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COLONY OF SINGAPORE
ANNUAL REPORT 1951

Digitized by Google

ion of the
ingapore

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lity o

Icipa

, K.C.M.G., addresses the assembly on the occas

(Straits Times photograph)

presentation of the Royal Charter conferring the status of a City upon the Mun

His Excellency the Governor, Sir Franklin Gimson

— — — — — — — —— —A — n — — n — V

COLONY OF SINGAPORE
ANNUAL REPORT 1951

W. L. BLYTHE

Colonial Secretary

Published by Authority
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, SINGAPORE

Printed by
F. S. Horslin
Acting Government Printer
Singapore

1952

Crown Copyright Reserved
PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE, LONDON
1952
Price 8s. 6d. net
(PRINTED IN SINGAPORE)

This report is included in the series of Colonial Annual Reports
published for the Colonial Office

S.O. Code No. 58-1-49-51

CONTENTS

Page
PART ONE
I GENERAL REVIEW OF THE YEAR, . . . . . 1
PART TWO
II POPULATION < . . . . . . . . 23
ПІ OCCUPATION, WAGES, LABOUR ORGANISATION . . , 35
IV PUBLIC FINANCE AND TAXATION . . : : 45
V CURRENCY AND BANKING. . . . . . SI
VI COMMERCE . . . . .. . . . . 54
VII PRODUCTION . . . . . .. . . . 59
VIII SocIAL SERVICES—
A—Education . . . . . . . . 67
B—Medical . . £ d'a. 99
C—Town Planning айй Housing © с = x 83
D—Social Welfare . . . . . . . 87
IX LEGISLATION . . : š 2E E ; : i 97
X LAW AND ORDER—
A—Justice . ы Se. Сом y ; ; š . 100
B—Police . . . . . . . . . 10
C—Prisons . . : à 7 ; ; : . 111
D— Defence ом. % Ao ы x RE oO OLI
XI PUBLIC UTILITIES . . . . . . . . 116
XII COMMUNICATIONS. © . . . . . . 123
XIII ARTS AND SCIENCES . . . . . . . 135
PART THREE
XIV GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE zo ok сё o o» AS]
XV HISTORY OF SINGAPORE. . . . . . . 154
XVI FAUNA AND FLORA . . . . . . . 164
XVII ADMINISTRATION . 2... . . . 173
ХУШ WEIGHTS AND MEASURES . . . . . 180
XIX NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS IN 1951 . . . 181

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . š . : У : 183

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Page
PRESENTATION OF THE ROYAL CHARTER—CITY i

COUNCIL OF SINGAPORE . А Frontispiece
OIL PAINTING—MOON-CAKE F ESTIVAL Е . Facing 34
THE Кт. HON. OLIVER LYTTELTON MEETS TRADE

UNION LEADERS . 5 35
SIR FRANKLIN GIMSON OPENS THE ECA.FE.

TRADE PROMOTION CONFERENCE : : г: 59
WATER-COLOUR PAINTING—ORANG LAUT . "D 66
NET-MAKING FACTORY : | ы 67
SEA DRAGON . | : Я А ; " 82
ARMENIAN CHURCH . 5: 83
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT : Е Р 5 90
S.I.T. FLATS . ; А у | . 5 90
OVERCROWDED SHOPHOUSES ; г . Between 90-1
GOVERNMENT TRAVELLING DISPENSARY i : Ж 90-І
PRINCESS ELIZABETH HOUSING ESTATE қ ; s 90-1
GAN ENG SENG ScHOOL . 3 | | | " 90-1
Сітү COUNCIL FLATS ; у . Facing 91
OPENING OF SECOND LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ; B 114
DEFENCE MOTOR LAUNCHES OF THE M.N.F. . Ж 114
SINGAPORE VOLUNTEER CORPS . ; . : 3 115
WOMAN POLICE CONSTABLE ON DUTY : Р 115
CHINESE SCROLL PAINTING—COCONUT PALM : 23 130
B.O.A.C. ‘COMET’ AT KALLANG AIRPORT . . > 131
MAIN TELEGRAPH OFFICE . : А А 2: 131
Оп, PAINTING—A CHINESE ACTOR . . ; š; 138
CHINESE OPEN AIR THEATRE . S 139
COLOURED LITHOGRAPH—SINGAPORE ABOUT 1850 2 154
SAME МЕМ—А HUNDRED YEARS LATER . š s: 155
TYERSALL AVENUE . с | ; : š 162
DRYING Joss-STICKS 5 А А | M 163
CRAYON DRAWING—‘CLASSMATE” У ; š Ж 178

GRAPHS
ANNUAL REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE, 1947-51 . Facing 50
MAIN HEADS OF TAXATION, 1951 А : Ж 51
FOREIGN TRADE ОЕ SINGAPORE, 1948 AND 1951 2: 58
PRINCIPAL OVERSEAS EXPORTS AND IMPORTS, 1948
AND 1951 | қ | | | . Between 58-9
MAP

SINGAPORE ÍSLAND

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PART ONE

General Review of the Year

HROUGHOUT 1951 political and economic events in Singapore

were dominated by continued militant Communist aggression
in the East, not only further afield in Korea, Vietnam and Burma,
but close at hand in the Federation of Malaya, and in the Colony
itself. This Communist threat, although contained, was not elimi-
nated, and all countries in South-East Asia, including Singapore,
found urgent need to examine their internal and external defences.
In addition, hostile Russian and Chinese propaganda, addressed to
the peoples of South-East Asia forced governments to take special
precautions in matters of internal security, immigration and com-
merce. Economically, cold-war conditions and actual war in Korea
caused a boom in the essential raw materials of rubber and tin upon
which Malaya's economy is predominantly based, and whilst the
cessation of trade in rubber with China and the limitation of trade
with Russia was accepted in Malaya as an essential contribution to
the war effort of the United Nations, the repercussion on the price of
rubber was a matter of vital interest to all communities in Singapore.

THE EMERGENCY IN SINGAPORE

The Communist campaign of violence in Singapore which had
been increasing during the last two months of 1950 carried on into
the early months of 1951, with many robberies of identity cards,
several cases of arson, and the shooting of the Assistant Command-
ant of the Special Constabulary. But a series of successes by the
Special Branch of the Police in January and February led first to
the identification and arrest of no less than thirty-four teachers and
undergraduates and others forming the English-speaking branch of
the ‘Anti-British League’, responsible for English propaganda. This
was followed by the capture of two local centres, and by the arrest
of the gang responsible for the identity card robberies. In July, the
printing press of the ‘Freedom Press’ was discovered and seized,

2 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

together with the galley proofs of a copy of the Freedom News, a
library of Russian and Communist pamphlets, copies of threatening
letters sent earlier in the year to Legislative Councillors and other
public leaders, and the title blocks of some Chinese communist
student publications which were in circulation when two leading
Chinese schools were closed in 1950 because of Communist pro-
paganda activities by a number of their pupils. Later in J uly another
local centre was captured, and there was a further similar success in
October. All of this resulted in a very definite slowing down of Com-
munist activities in the Colony, since each success meant not only
the arrest of Communist members but the dislocation of the party
organisation. Communist attempts to penetrate the labour unions
were of little avail, and although propaganda of the China Com-
munist Party, and, to a lesser extent, of the Malayan Communist
Party, in Chinese schools continued to be a problem requiring con-
stant attention, increasing co-operation from the Chinese school
authorities led to some improvement. Nevertheless, Singapore could
not fail to be affected by the communist campaign in the Federation
of Malaya, and the tragic murder of the High Commissioner in
October was a reminder, if any were needed, that this Campaign in
Malaya was a danger which continued gravely to threaten the entire
community.

AFTERMATH OF THE DECEMBER RIOTS, 1950

Although with the help of the military order had rapidly been
restored in Singapore after the Hertogh riots of 11th and 12th Dec-
ember, 1950, Government was faced with the urgent and immediate
task of restoring public confidence and of building anew the morale
of the police force. Sixty members of the Singapore Harbour Board
Police, whose contracts were due to expire on or before 31st Decem-
ber, 1950, were re-engaged for general police duties. The Governor
of Hong Kong gave permission for the Commissioner of Police,
Hong Kong, Mr. MacIntosh, who had for many years been a member
of the Singapore Police Force, to visit Singapore, to advise on any
steps which would effect an immediate improvement in police morale
and organisation. Mr. MacIntosh arrived by air on 22nd December,
1950, and submitted his report to the Singapore Government on
27th December. Several of his recommendations were immediately
implemented. Steps were taken to strengthen the Gurkha contingent,
which it was hoped to raise to 481. This, however, did not prove
possible, and only 185 were recruited. Members of the Muslim
Advisory Board visited the police rank and file to dispel any illusion
that there was conflict between their duty as Muslims and their duty

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 3

as members of the Force. This was the more essential since the
groundswell of Muslim discontent continued for some time after
Maria Hertogh had left the Colony, and the agitation was in some
cases so extreme that one Malay paper was closed down under the
Emergency Regulations. Mr. J. P. Pennefather-Evans, c.B.E. who
had previously had 26 years' experience of police work in Malaya,
and had later been Commissioner of Police in Hong Kong, was
appointed Commissioner of Police, Singapore for one year, and
reached the Colony on 6th February, 1951. The established strength
of Category ‘A’ of the Volunteer Special Constabulary was increased
from 500 to 1,000, and as a result of a proposal made by the Singa-
pore Chamber of Commerce immediately after the riots, a scheme
was drawn up for the formation of Vounteer Special Constabulary
Emergency Squads, comprising employees of members of the Cham-
ber of Commerce. Three of these squads had been trained by March,
1951. Orders were placed for increased stocks of anti-riot equipment,
instructions were issued that riot drill should be regularly practised,
and a routine Police /Military operation was worked out, and tested
in realistic exercises. At Fort Canning a combined Police /Military
Operations Room was set up, and arrangements for passing informa-
tion and instructions to the public through the Public Relations
Department, Radio Malaya and Rediffusion were improved. Steps
were taken to ensure closer understanding between the Inspectorate
and the Malay police rank and file, investigations were made into
pay and allowances, and recommended increases were eventually
approved.

On 5th February the Governor appointed a Commission of En-
quiry under the chairmanship of Sir Lionel Leach, P.C., K.C., a
former Chief Justice of Madras and now a member of the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council. The two other members of the
Commission were Capt. H. Studdy, с.в.Е., Commissioner of Police
of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and Mr. J. H. Wenham, J.P., a
member of the Surrey County Council. The Terms of Reference
enjoined them ‘to enquire into, and report on the disorders in Singa-
pore on 11th December and on subsequent days with special ref-
erence to the cause of those disorders and to the measures taken to
protect life and property and to restore law and order'. The Commis-
sion arrived in the Colony on 10th February, began work on 15th,
and finished their investigations on 9th March, having sat for 19
days, heard 136 witnesses and received 115 exhibits. Their report
was signed on 17th May, 1951, and was published in Singapore on
7th August, 1951.

4 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The Commission found that the basic cause of the riots was the
intense feeling roused by the Hertogh case among the Muslim
population, aggravated by the girl's presence in a Roman Catholic
convent and exploited by the ‘unscrupulous campaign’ of the Nadra
Action Committee. The Commission accepted the fact that 'the
Police did not expect any outbreak of violence on the 11th Decem-
ber', but considered that there had been a 'faulty appreciation of the
likelihood of danger' before the 11th, and that the Special Branch
‘ought to have realised that there was a great possibility of serious
trouble arising’. The spread of disorder on the 11th was ‘due to the
defection of the Malay Police and the failure to make effective use
of the Gurkha contingent’. The ‘Acting Commissioner of Police did
not appreciate the seriousness of the situation until a considerable
time after it had got out of hand, although he should have done so’.
The Commission praised the foresight and prompt action of the
General Officer Commanding and considered that order was res-
tored with a minimum use of force by the Military. The Commis-
sion found no evidence of Communist inspiration behind the riots,
and ‘no acceptable testimony of any organisation directing the
rioters’. The defection of the Malay police was attributed to their
belief that the Court proceedings were an attack upon their religion,
and that Maria Hertogh was being forcibly converted to Chris-
tianity, but the Commission considered that their failure ‘should
not be given a significance beyond the specific situation in which it
occurred. They possess sterling qualities and are capable of fulfilling
their duty in an emergency, provided that they are contented and
are properly led.’

The Commission considered that the failure to remove the girl
from the Convent was serious and criticised the Colonial Secretary
for ‘rejecting the advice tendered to him by the Special Branch’ who
had suggested that ‘criticism would subside temporarily if the girl
were to be placed in neutral religious custody’. The Colonial Secre-
tary had stated in his evidence that three days before the receipt of
this advice he had personally asked the Consul-General for the
Netherlands, who represented the girl’s parents, and who had
arranged for her place of custody, to permit the removal of the girl
from the Convent, but his request had been refused. In a covering
despatch to the Report of the Commission, the Governor considered
that, having regard to the information at the disposal of the Colonial
Secretary at the time, the Commission’s criticism was not justified.
At no time before the event did the Special Branch expect an

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 5

outbreak of violence... .no further representations of any kind were
made to any Administrative Officer, either by the Special Branch or
by the Acting Commissioner of Police....and no leader of the
Muslim community made any approach whatever to the Colonial
Secretary on the question of the child and the Convent’.

The Commission also considered that the work of the Govern-
ment Information Services was defective throughout the riots, and
regretted that the earliest opportunity was not taken of informing
the public through the Broadcasting Department that the military
had been called in to restore order.

In September 1951, a disciplinary tribunal was set up under the
chairmanship of a Judge of the High Court to investigate charges
brought against six police officers, and based on the findings of the .
Leach Report. As a result, the Acting Commissioner of Police was
required to resign, and one other officer was criticised for his hand-
ling of the situation but exonerated from any disciplinary offence.
The other four officers were exonerated.

LOCAL DEFENCE FORCES

The Malayan Naval Force began its contribution to the Emer-
gency through its operational coastal patrols of the East and West
coasts of Malaya. The Malayan R.N.V.R. acquired its training ship,
the Laburnum, and full training was possible. The Singapore Volun-
teer Corps which had been revived after the war as a Liaison Corps
now consists of Anti-Aircraft and Internal Security units. The
Malayan Auxiliary Air Force consolidated its strength, and all three
services were successfully tested in a joint landing exercise. Parti-
cularly encouraging in its proof of the recognition by the younger
generation of the obligation of defence was the success of both the
Sea Cadets and the Malayan Air Training Corps. Three cadets of
the M.A.T.C. attended the Air Training Corps Anniversary Parade
in London. The newest of the Servíces is the Civil Defence Corps, for
which legislation was passed in April. A training school was estab- -
lished and three senior members of the staff were recruited from the
United Kingdom. It was encouraging that recruiting began as soon
as the Man-Power Bureau opened, and that this was before the
legislation was passed or the conditions of service set out. A motion
by an Unofficial Member of Legislative Council calling for immediate
consideration to be given to the formation of a Singapore Regiment
received unanimous approval. Investigation of this proposal is
proceeding.

6 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

CONSTITUTIONAL PROGRESS

Steady progress was made during 1951 in increasing the respon-
sibility of the unofficial and elected elements in the constitution of
the Colony. In March the First Legislative Council held its last meet-
ing. ‘The members of this first Council,’ said the Governor, had been
*pioneers of the practise of representative Government in South-
East Asia. The Council had shaped a procedure which worked
smoothly and efficiently and had proved that an increase in the
number of the members elected in open constituencies from six to
nine was amply justified. The Council now has twenty-five members,
of whom sixteen are Unofficials. Of these four are nominated by the
Governor and of the remaining twelve, three are elected by the
Chambers of Commerce and nine by regional constituencies. On the
recommendation of the Electoral Procedure Committee, the two
two-member constituencies and the two one-member constituencies
from which the first Councillors had been elected were replaced by
nine single-member constituencies, six coinciding with the City
wards, and three in the Rural areas. Twenty-two candidates, of
whom fifteen were Indians and one a Ceylonese contested the nine
seats. Eight candidates stood for the Progressive Party and seven for
the Labour Party. The Progressives won six seats, the Labour Party
two, the ninth being an Independent and the first woman to be
elected to the Council. The non-communal appeal of both parties,
which is a healthy political sign, is shown by the race of these elected
members: of the Progressives there were two Chinese, one English,
one Eurasian, one Indian and one Ceylonese, while one Chinese and
one Indian made up the Labour representation. 52 per cent of the
electorate of 48,000 voted in this election. The small poll was in part
due to an electoral register which, through changes of address, was
not fully up-to-date. This was substantially corrected by a house-
to-house check of the register during the 1951 registration period.

At the first meeting of the Second Council on 17th April, two
further constitutional changes were made. The Council elected one
of its unofficial members as its Vice-President to preside over its
meetings in the absence of the President, who is the Governor. The
Vice-President first presided at the May meeting of the Council.
The Unofficials also elected two of their members to the Executive
Council, bringing the two Councils into organic relationship for the
first time. These two members had been elected to the Legislative
Council from regional constituencies, and they are both represent-
atives of the Progressive Party. With this introduction of the popular
and Party element into the Executive Council an important step

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 7

towards responsible Cabinet Government has been taken in spite of
the smallness of the Executive Council and its elected minority.
There is now an equal number of officials and unofficials on this
Council, and the Governor announced that he would not override
the unanimous views of the unofficials in Executive Council except
in circumstances in which in the Legislative Council he would feel
compelled to use his reserved powers.

Later in the year a committee of three senior adminisimve
officers was set up to consider what changes in the administrative
machine would be necessary if a ‘Member’ system of Government
were to be introduced. The introduction of such a system in Singa-
pore presents particular problems, partly owing to the smallness of
size of the Legislative Council. The possibility of introducing a
*Member' system was still under consideration at the end of the
year. There is a general appreciation among Legislative Councillors
of the difficulty of getting such a system to work unless the Legis-
lative Council is enlarged, and that this again is dependent in some
degree on the size of the electorate.

The Budget for 1952 was presented in such a form that the Un-
official Members of Legislative Council, all of whom form the Budget
Committee under the Chairmanship of the Financial Secretary,
might themselves decide in which order the many urgent calls on
Government funds should be placed. In his speech at the Budget
session the Governor emphasised that ‘in deciding what to provide
for the people and in choosing the means of paying for these services
we are not engaged in solving a problem of our own definition to
our own satisfaction. The final judgment lies with the people whose
co-operation is essential to the fulfilment of our Budget plans.
Theirs is the cost, theirs is the benefit, and theirs, therefore, must
be the active consideration and positive endorsement and not merely
a passive acquiescence. The people must be shown in practice that
this debate concerns the plans for the coming year for Singapore
which is the household of which we are all members.’

Of equal importance in the public mind as a test of the policy of
increasing local responsibility is the progress in recruiting local and
keen men and women to Government service, training them and
promoting them to the positions for which their merit qualifies them.
The Public Services Commission had its first full year of working
as a body to advise the Governor on appointments to and promo-
tions in Government Service, and upon matters concerned with
Schemes of Service. The rate of this development of local recruit-
ment is shown by the 118 locally-domiciled officers among the 409
holders of substantive posts in Division I of the Service. Training

8 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

facilities are being increased. At the beginning of 1951, 57 officers
were on training courses and 83 at the end of the year.

The most spectacular constitutional development was the present-
ation to the Municipality of a Royal Charter conferring the title of
a City and ‘all such rank, liberties, privileges and immunities as are
incident to a City’ and declaring that ‘the Municipal Commissioners
of Singapore shall henceforth be one body corporate by the name
and style of the CITY COUNCIL OF SINGAPORE.'

The day of presentation, 22nd September, was a royal day in
every way for the people of Singapore. After the Charter had been
read by the Chief Justice, the presentation was made by Sir Franklin
Gimson on behalf of His Majesty to the President of the City Council
on the steps of the Municipal Building, which by the ceremony
changed its own title to City Hall. The Commissioner-General and
the High Commissioner of the Federation of Malaya were present,
and symbolised the Malayan setting of the ceremony. The Guard
of Honour was from the Singapore Volunteer Corps, and represent-
atives of the Colony's Youth Movements flanked the steps during
the ceremony. In the evening an official banquet was held to which
were also invited representatives of the junior clerical staff and of
the labourers. But the day was unique in its celebrations by the
people. Four ceremonial arches were built round the Padang, games
were organised in the afternoon, and the 1st Battalion the Camero-
nians beat the Retreat at dusk. In the evening, one of the biggest
crowds Singapore has ever seen, over 250,000, gathered to see the
celebrations. An illuminated water dragon, 400 feet in length, blow-
ing balls of fire, paddled its way across the harbour in front of the
Esplanade. On land Chinese, Malays and Indians all took part in a
great procession of some 300 lorries, of which the Chinese section
alone took over 3 hours to pass the judges. The Royal Navy pro-
vided a brilliant firework display, whilst the Royal Air Force dropped
flares which turned night into day. The City Hall was illuminated with
silver light and the Cathedral with gold. The crowds were cheerful
and orderly and personally interested. The distinction between a
Municipality and a City is not easily explained to the ordinary man
in the street who asked what precisely was meant by City Status.
Nevertheless, he felt that Singapore had been singled out for an
honour conferred by the King in person, and that this honour was
conferred in some degree upon all the citizens of Singapore.

The City Council has marked its new stature by introducing the
largest budget in the Municipal history of Singapore, a budget with
expenditure of $86,000,000, of which $46,000,000 is on revenue
account and $40,000,000 on loan account. In 1942 the budget total

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 9

was $18,250,000 of which $17,500,000 was on revenue account. The
loan account expenditure is on the major and urgent expansion of
electricity, gas and water, to meet the needs of the expanding popu-
lation. But parks, drainage of flooded areas, and sewerage as well as
health, fire, cleansing and road services are also included.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS

In January, 1951, four members of a United Nations Town Plan-
ning Commission visited Singapore during the first visit of Sir
George Pepler, Town Planning Consultant to the Colony. A large
*Houses for Singapore' Exhibition was held and gave pictorial form
to Singapore's housing plan. In May, the visit of General de Lattre
de Tassigny for discussions with the Commissioner-General em-
phasised the close interest of Malaya in events in Indo-China. In
July, Mr. Thomas Dewey visited Singapore during his tour of the
Far East and was entertained at a dinner given by the Common-
wealth Parliamentary Association. In October, the late Don Stephen
Senanayake, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, passed through Singa-
pore on his way to Australia, and was given a generous reception
at a public dinner organised by the Ceylonese Association. He
represented for all communities a country which has set an example
of orderly progress towards Dominion status. An ECAFE Con-
ference was also held in Singapore in October, to discuss Trade
Promotion in the region. The Conference was attended by 125
delegates from 25 different countries including Russia, whose
delegates, in contrast to the similar conference in 1949 when they
kept their samovar at the boil, were temperate and co-operative, not
to say seductive in their picture of a peaceful Russia able to supply
- Asia with goods which were in scarce supply in the belligerent
Western countries. But their persuasive words produced no com-
modities. Most of the delegates were business men, and perhaps it
was the predominantly business and civil servant membership which
set the quiet tone of the conference. The leader of the Singapore
delegation was elected chairman.

In December, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Rt. Hon.
Mr. Oliver Lyttelton spent five days in Singapore during a visit to
Malaya made shortly after taking office. His visit had a tonic effect
in showing that Malayan problems were being given urgent con-
sideration and that the Colonial Secretary himself was alive to them
and eager to find their solution in practical administrative terms.
He emphasised that self-government was the aim for a united Malaya
and expressed the confident hope that it would remain within the
Commonwealth. After self-government had been obtained he also

10 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

felt that the British would still have their part to play in Malaya.
During his visit Mr. Lyttelton met officials, members of the Execu-
tive, Legislative and City Councils and representatives of the Cham-
bers of Commerce to discuss policies and their administrative re-
alisation. He opened the Island Club, and was present at the laying
of the Foundation Stone of the new Nurses’ Home and Out-Patients
Department at the General Hospital.

COMMERCE

1951 was a year of exceptional economic prosperity in Singapore.
Her total imports were $3,625 million, an increase in value of 69 per
cent over 1950, and her exports, $4,095 million, were 62 per cent
higher than in 1950. The favourable balance was $470 million. But
although prosperous, 1951 was not a settled or healthy economic
year. The dominant influence on the Colony’s trade was rubber,
which at the beginning of the year was $1.86 per 16.; rising to $2.374
per lb., in February; and falling to $1.40 per lb., by the end of the
year. These fluctuations inevitably strained the financing and in-
surance facilities of the Colony, but they were able to take the strain.

The average price of tin was also higher in 1951 than it had been

in 1950, but there were likewise wide variations from the highest
price of £1,467.7.6 in February to the lowest of £802.7.0 in August.
In copra, prices varied during the year from $39 to $65 a picul.
As the greater part of the rubber and tin was exported to America,
the increase in rubber prices made a very great contribution to the
dollar reserves of the Commonwealth. At the same time this increase
focussed attention on American policies in relation to the stock-
piling and the manufacture of synthetic rubber, and there was an
insistent demand for a more consistent policv from the United
States and a clearer realisation of the effect of the price of rubber on
the strategic and political situation in South-East Asia.
, Political events in Asia made their influence felt on the Singapore
channels of trade. Trade with Japan reached the value of $138
million, and in July the import by quota from Japan was discon-
tinued. Singapore with its entrepot trade is very interested in the
direction which the trade of reviving Japan will take in the future. '

More important and immediate were the destinational controls
on the export of rubber to China, and the later decision by the
Government of Singapore at the invitation of the United Kingdom
Government to stop the export of rubber to China and to introduce
restrictions on export to Russia and her European satellites. This
decision was announced in the Legislative Council on 22nd May
and was accepted without criticism. The reasons for the decision

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 11

were given by the Governor who said: ‘Singapore, as a commercial
centre, requires for its political security and economic prosperity
the conditions in which fruitful and peaceful trade can be carried
out, conditions which the aggressive Communist forces in Asia are
seeking to destroy. On the issue of the present struggle in Korea
depends whether the Asian nations, including those of South-East
Asia, will be allowed to develop their own indigenous political
strength and institutions without the alien threat of a power-hungry
Communism. All the United Nations are pledged to contain and
eliminate this threat, and this ban is our contribution to the military
strength of the United Nations.' This decision was accepted, although
it coincided with a substantial drop in the price of rubber. As a result
of this destinational control the ship Nancy Moller carrying rubber
to China was seized, and the Norbay which had loaded rubber for
China was unloaded.

The Colony's economic prosperity was reflected in the figures of
Public Finance and Taxation. The general revenue, which was
estimated at $124,734,668, showed a budget deficit of $3.7 millions.
There was, in fact, a surplus of $52.5 millions for the year 1951.
The revenue from income tax, which was estimated at $31 millions,
reached $50,351,004, which was 38 per cent of the total revenue,
but there was also an increase in all the chief heads of revenue. The
inevitable inflation raised problems of both political and financial
importance. It affected the ability of Government to pursue its
Social Service policies. In April, Government announced that three
contracts for schools under the Education Plan had not been placed
because of the high cost. While building materials were scarce, there
was a building boom in commercial buildings and private houses,
which sent prices yet higher. A Bill was passed to forbid the building
of cinemas and places of entertainment or any building costing over
$50,000 without a permit from Government. A Committee was
established to decide on the priorities of buildings under the Social
Service Plans, which continued, though to a more limited degree.

No system of controls was devised which was able to meet the
rising costs, and the lack of support for the Consumers' Resistance
Movement proved that the shoppers were not prepared to offer
effective resistance to the automatic increases of prices by retailers
on the pretext of their increased cost of living. Import controls were
relaxed to increase the supply of essential commodities such as
textiles. A Food Production Officer was appointed to encourage the
local growth of food, particularly pigs and vegetables. Pig produc-
tion increased by 50 per cent, while Singapore achieved a surplus
of eggs for export to the Federation. The local catch of fish has

12 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

increased to 39.2 per cent of the fish marketed. The problem of food
supply is one which requires a long-term plan in which South Johore
must play a prominent part.

The higher level of prosperity was reflected in the increase in the
number of those employed to 123,365, a figure higher by 6,520 than
the equivalent figure in 1950. The shortage of skilled and semi-
skilled labour was shown in the great increase in the number of
employers using the Employment Exchange of the Labour Depart-
ment, and emphasised the need for technical training. During the
year, a working party considered the shortage of skilled labour in
the building trade which, reflecting the building boom, employed
double the number of any other industry. With the rising cost of
living rose the general level of wages, though not to the same extent
and not spread evenly over all trades. Of the 69 major disputes
referred to the Labour Department, 52 concerned wages, and were

settled by negotiation. There were 4 strikes with a loss of 22,570

man-days, a greater loss than in 1950. The number of Trade Unions
increased during the year from 91 to 107, and their membership by
9,727 to 58,322. In June, a Federation of Trade Unions was formed
under the title of a Trade Union Congress, and by the end of the
year 28 Unions were members.

COMMUNICATIONS

During 1949 and 1950 exhaustive investigations were carried out
to discover the most suitable site for an airport which would suffice
for all future needs of the Colony as far as these could be foreseen.
Eventually, in 1951, the decision was made to construct an entirely
new international airport at Paya Lebar, about 6 miles from the
centre of the city to the east. This, when completed, will supersede
the present airport at Kallang, which is not capable of sufficient
extension to provide for the requirements of aircraft of the future,
such as the Comet. This decision is clearly one of major importance
for the future of Singapore's communications and commerce.

POPULATION

During 1951 there was no relaxation of the steady rate of increase
of Singapore's population, resulting from a birth-rate maintained at
a high level and a falling death-rate. In the middle of 1951 the popu-
lation of Singapore was 1,041,933, which is almost double the 1931
census population of 557,745. The birth-rate in 1951 was 46.17 per
cent per thousand of the population, while the death-rate was 11.88

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 13

per thousand of the population, which was almost as low as the
record of 11.84 in 1949. The net rate of increase is, therefore, 34.29
per thousand. Of the population 806,690 are Chinese (77.4 per cent)
127,063 Malays (12.2 per cent) and 75,601 are Indians (7.2 per cent).

EDUCATION

For this growing population, more social services of a high stand-
ard are demanded. The cost of education alone has risen from
$6,817,000 in 1949, and $11,230,000 in 1950 to $19,026,000 in 1951,
whilst the cost of the medical services has increased from $7,000,781
in 1950 to $10,179,530 in 1951. In both these services the Colony is
committed to schemes for expansion which will yet further increase
the annual expenditure to be met from local revenue.

1951 saw still further development in education of the concurrent
Neilson Ten-Year Plan and the Frisby Five-Year Supplementary
Plan, both co-ordinated and accelerated by Mr. A. W. Frisby, the
Director of Education. Under the Frisby Plan, 18 new schools, each
providing places for 1,000 children in two sessions daily, were to be
built annually. The main emphasis is on free primary education,
provision for which takes precedence over expansion at the second-
ary level. The second point of emphasis is found in the teaching of
English. In the new schools, there is teaching of English and in
English, with the vernacular mother-languages as subsidiaries. The
teaching of English in the Malay schools has been greatly increased,
which gives the Malays a better opportunity of going on to the
secondary schools where English is the medium of teaching. English
teachers have also been appointed to the Chinese schools. The
demand for education outruns the supply, and the ‘unwilling school-
boy’ is a picture which finds no reflection in Singapore.

The building of 23 schools was approved for 1951, but only 11
were completed, including the new Gan Eng Seng Secondary School,
although at the end of the year a further 6 were still building. Deve-
lopment was retarded by the high cost of building, which in April
had led to the witholding of three contracts whilst the question of
costs was reconsidered. Nevertheless, at the end of 1951, 141,044
children were registered in 492 primary and secondary schools, an
increase of 10,000 over the 1950 figures. 94,305 were boys and 46,739
were girls. Of the children in schools maintained or aided by Govern-
ment, 46.5 per cent were in English schools and 43.8 per cent in
Chinese schools, but taking these together, with the private schools,
54 per cent were in Chinese schools and 39 per cent in English
schools. There has been some increase in the teaching of science in
schools, but there are still not enough laboratories to make science

14 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

a regular part of the secondary school curriculum. A temporary
experiment which has proved of permanent value was the introduc-
tion of the post-certificate classes to provide the ‘Sixth Form’
element which is needed for the School Certificate pupils who are
planning to go on to the University of Malaya. The Teacher's
Training College continued to train the teachers for the present and
future needs of the expanding educational system. During 1951,
1,528 teachers were in training, an increase of 549 over the 1950
figures. No expansion has been possible during the year in Technical
Education, but Adult Education has been firmly established. Pre-
viously, there had been volunteer pioneer work in this field, both in
literacy classes and in short courses of lectures by the People's
Education Association, and by established institutions such as the
Y.M.C.A. But in 1950, it was decided to establish an independent
Council of Adult Education, including all bodies concerned with
adult education together with representatives of the University and
Government. The Council, which is financed by Government, aimed
at having 150 classes by the end of 1951, but by the end of that year
there were no fewer than 188 literary classes and 4 groups on specific
subjects of study, the number of students reaching 6,500, with an
average of 35 in each class.

Singapore's sustained interest in the University of Malaya is
shown not only in the Government grant of $5,000,000, but in the
private contributions which continue to be made, and which are
now 55 per cent of the total subscribed. The University of Malaya,
formed by the amalgamation of Raffles College and the King
Edward VII College of Medicine, is making a creative contribution
to the future of the country both by the increasing number of its
students, and by the widening range of its courses. At the end of
1951, there were 837 students, as compared with 450 the previous
year. Of these, 129 were studying medicine, 109 arts, and 55 science.
Of the total, 335 were drawn from Singapore, including 84 women.

Difficulties of admission continue, partly because the School
Certificate examination is not of a sufficiently high standard to act
as an entrance qualification. However, the introduction of the post
school-certificate courses is providing the remedy, and as more
Honours graduates are recruited from the University into the teach-
ing profession, so the number of these advanced school courses can
increase. The University is, however, also limited by its buildings,
which will, remain inadequate until the more spacious new Univer-
sity is built in Johore Bahru. New quarters are now being erected `
near the present University buildings for the accommodation of
students, in order that the present hostels at Raffles College may be

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 15

used for teaching purposes. But admission to the Science and Medical
Faculties continues to be limited by the shortage of laboratory
accommodation.

There has nevertheless, been an expansion in teaching. Forty-five
new appointments were made to the academic staff, and Chairs in
Malay Studies and in Chinese Language and Literature were created,
whilst a Department of Education was set up to provide University
qualifications for teachers. At the second convocation held in July
1951, when the new bright blue gowns of the students were worn for
the first time, 106 graduates were awarded Degrees and Diplomas.
Sixty-eight Degrees were awarded in the Arts Faculty, of which
nineteen were Honours Degrees, including three with First Class
Honours. Twenty-two gradueted from the Medical Faculty.

MEDICAL SERVICES

In 1951 a start was made on the implementation of the Medical
Plan, over which the Education Plan had been given pride of place
in 1949. The Leper Settlement Scheme and a new Base Medical
Store and the first two Maternity Child Welfare Clinics of the 16
planned were under construction. On his visit to Singapore in
December 1951, the Secretary of State for the Colonies was present
when the Governor, Sir Franklin Gimson, laid the foundation stone
of the new Out-patients Department and the Nurses' Home at the
General Hospital. Shortage of living accommodation limits the
expansion of staff, while the Plan, which provides for a population
of 1,000,000 has already been out-stripped by the birth-rate and the
increasing demand for medical services which is now greater than
ever before. During 1951, there were 501,529 attendances at the
hospital out-patients departments, as compared with 423,377 in
1950, and 87,447 in 1938. Although the number of beds in hospitals
is now the same as before the war, the number of in-patients was
38,497 as compared with 35,492 in 1950 and 25,913 in 1938. Well
over 60 per cent of the births in the Colony are now dealt with in
hospital, or in the City and rural Government clinics. In addition,
there were 44,224 attendances at the mobile clinics which visit the
adjacent islands. The mortality figures are proof of the success of
these services. The general death-rate was 11.88 per thousand, which
though slightly higher than the record lowest figure of 11.84 per
thousand in 1949, may be compared with the figure of 13.34 per
thousand in 1947. The Infant Mortality Rate was 75.15 per thousand
live births, and was the lowest the Colony has had, except for 1949.
The Chinese figure of 66.69 was the lowest yet reached for those of

16 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Chinese race. The maternal mortality rate of 1.63 per 1,000 births
compares favourably with 1.85 in 1950.

Despite the constant flow of traffic both by sea and by air, there
have been no outbreaks of any major infectious diseases, which is a
tribute to the efficiency of the quarantine regulations, as well as
their justification. Apart from one group of diseases the death rate
from all diseases is declining. Tuberculosis, however, continues to
take the heaviest toll, in spite of a falling tuberculosis death rate.
In 1951 the tuberculosis death rate per million was 1,096 compared
with an average rate of 2,288 from 1939 to 1941, and with a rate of
1,550 in 1947. The Out-patients Clinic for tuberculosis patients at
the Tan Tock Seng Hospital had a record number of attendances,
while the demands on the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association
(SATA) Treatment Centre continued to increase. SATA will be
further strengthened on the completion of its new out-patients
clinic and treatment centre, the foundation stone of which was laid
during the year. |

During the summer of 1951, a team from UNICEF and the World
Health Organisation carried out a 4-month campaign of BCG in-
noculation, during which they trained local teams in the use of BCG
and tested and innoculated some 30,000 children and mothers. The
system of relief for those suffering from tuberculosis was expanded
through the co-operation of the Medical and Social Welfare De-
partments.

An outstanding feature of the year's medical development was the
increasing co-operation of voluntary helpers in many aspects of the
work. The Franciscan Sisters are assuming increasing responsibility
as nurses for tuberculosis patients in Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
SATA is entirely a voluntary organisation. In the welfare of lepers
and of the children in the orthopaedic hospital and in the work of
the St. John Ambulance Brigade and the Singapore Branch of the
British Red Cross Society, voluntary assistance has been regularly
given. The St. John Ambulance Brigade successfully attracted and
trained recruits from all communities, particularly to the Cadets,
whilst the Singapore Branch of the British Red Cross Society carried
forward their plans for a Home for Handicapped Children.

TOWN PLANNING AND HOUSING

Perhaps Singapore's most urgent social problem is that of provid-
ing good homes for her people. A separate home is essential to the
full life of the family, and better housing will help to reduce the
problems of disease and delinquency with which the departments of

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 17

Government must deal. This priority was recognised by Govern-
ment, and the amount of housing completed and under construction
in 1951 by the Singapore Improvement Trust was greater than in
any other year. In all, 1,028 flats, 152 artizans' quarters and 124
shops were completed, and 1,582 flats, 448 artizans' quarters and 79
shops were under construction at the end of the year. There is no
claim that present plans match present needs, and there were serious
delays. The high cost of building in the early part of the year post-
poned the building programme, and all the work completed in 1951
was in fact carried forward from the 1950 programmes.

During the year Sir George Pepler, the Colony's planning adviser,
began his work. He advised on the powers necessary for a diagnostic
survey of the island and on the staff necessary to carry it out. The
necessary legislation was passed and approval for the recruitment of
staff given during the year. The diagnostic survey will determine the
right use of the limited area of the island on which the expanding
needs of the population for homes, work and food make increasingly
urgent calls. Sir George Pepler has said that ‘Land is the ultimate
platform of all human activity and is limited in amount. It is therefore
obvious that every piece of it should be put to its appropriate use in
the interests of the community.

The opening of Shenton Way was the first step in the re-develop-
ment of the Telok Ayer Basin area, which in due course should
relieve the present congestion of the business area in and around
Raffles Square.

SOCIAL WELFARE

High building costs prevented any expansion of the Social Welfare
Department which required new buildings, but this did not prevent
the consolidation of the existing work of this new department, or the
undertaking of new responsibilities. The most important develop-
ments during the year were the creation of the Public Assistance
Board, the construction of the Far Eastern Relief Fund Farm, the
extension of the probation system to the adult Courts, the start of a
survey of sickness in Singapore under the direction of the Research
Section of the Department, and the inauguration of the Singapore
Joint Relief Organisation and of the Singapore Association for the
Blind, both of which are now quite independent of Government.
There was no major scheme of social research, but at the end of
1951 the Sub-Committee of the Social Security Working Party carried
out with the assistance of university students a pilot survey of sick-
ness to assess the extent to which illness imposes financial hardship
upon the family and on the community.

18 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Youth Movements are second in importance only to the schools
in a population of which the majority are under 25 years of age.
Early in the year, Sir Franklin Gimson said, 'Social wounds can be
healed by giving to our people, particularly our young men and :
women, a sense that their future is closely linked with that of Singa-
pore and Malaya, and that in the system we are partners in building,
they will find the fullest scope for their individual and social con-
structive energies and aptitudes.' The established youth movements
for boys and girls, such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides had a
year of growing membership. The Y.M.C.A. launched an appeal
for a new swimming pool in the centre of the town. The Chinese
Y.M.C.A. appealed for funds for a new clubhouse near the congested
Chinese area to the south of the Singapore River. The Y.W.C.A.
raised funds for a hostel and club for Chinese girls in the same area.
The Social Welfare Department organised eight clubs with a mem-
bership of 1,500. The lack of playing fields limits the sporting
activities of the Youth Movements, but an official survey was made
during the year of the need for playing fields, and the Report is
being considered in the drafting of the Master Plan by Sir George
Pepler. All youth organisations are linked together in the Singapore
Youth Council, through which efforts are pooled to expand the
variety of constructive interests which they can offer. The Council
sent seven delegates to the meeting of the World Assembly of Youth
in New York in the summer of 1951.

ART, MUSIC AND DRAMA

During the year scarcely a week passed in Singapore without some
opportunity of enjoying one or other of the arts. Exhibitions held
during the year showed not only a rising standard of artistic produc-
tion but a wider attendance of all age groups and races. There were
six art exhibitions, five of which were sponsored by the Singapore
Art Society. Some of these attracted 5,000 people or more during
their nine-day runs. In these exhibitions, Chinese, Malay and
European art stood side by side. One exhibition of contemporary
Malay arts and crafts was the first such exhibition attempted since
the Malaya/Borneo Exhibition in the early 1920s, and has left
behind a permanent record in a booklet which provides the only
comprehensive survey of Malay arts and crafts yet written. An open
photographic exhibition was outstanding, not only for the quality
of the photographs submitted, but for the fact that almost half were
submitted from other countries, setting new standards and encourag-
ing new local ambition. In drama, Singapore was alert to modern

— —
— — — o —

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 19

plays and was apt in modern production. Christopher Fry's The
Lady's Not for Burning and Jean Anouile's Ardele were presented by
amateur producers and actors at a high standard. In music, the
Singapore Symphony and the Junior Symphony Orchestras con-
tinued to develop, the Singapore Chamber Ensemble was formed,
and there was increased interest in choral singing. The packed
audiences, composed of people of all races, which are to be seen at
almost all musical concerts in Singapore prove that there is a wide-
spread interest in music throughout large sections of this community.

SPORT

Amateur sport, with its high standard and large following, con-
tinued to be a dominant public interest. The Singapore Olympic and
Sports Council, to which all the principal sporting organisations are
affiliated, saw the adoption of one of its major recommendations
when legislation was passed to provide for the building of a modern
Sports Stadium to give facilities for all the major sports. Coaching
in athletics which began with the visit of Mr. Geoffrey Dyson in
1950 was continued by the visit of Mr. Ray Barkway, one of Britain's
honorary athletic coaches. In competitions, the abilities of her sports-
men brought success to Singapore. The Singapore Amateur Athletic
Association won the Malayan Inter-State Athletic trophy for the
third year in succession. The Singapore Amateur Football Associa-
tion retained the Malaya Football Cup which they won in 1950.
The Singapore Table Tennis team competed in the World Champion-
ship in Bombay. The Singapore Chinese Amateur Athletic Federa-
tion organised many international basketball matches in Singapore
and maintained their high standard of play.

Many of the matters touched upon in this chapter are dealt with
at greater length in subsequent chapters of this Report, and from
these it will be seen that the year has been one of vigilance and hard
work. Although not all the goals attempted have been reached, the
record is nonetheless one of substantial progress. It is not generally
realised that the shortage of qualified and experienced senior staff
which still persists, particularly in the professional and technical
services, throws a very heavy strain on the administrative machine.
In this Singapore is not unique, but it is worth while recording that
out of an establishment of 636 officers in Division I there are over
100 vacancies which it has not been possible to fill either by local
candidates or by candidates from overseas. While it is expected that

20 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

this position will improve with the increasing number of qualified
men now emerging from training, it is clear that unless the improve-
ment in recruitment is very considerable, staff shortages will con-
tinue to be a serious limiting factor in the progress of plans already
begun or projected for the development of Singapore and the benefit
of its people.

But despite this, Singapore is perhaps the most favoured country
of South-East Asia; it continues to be in the forefront both in plan-
ning and in performance, its political progress is proceeding by steady
evolution, and the many races which compose its population go
about their daily affairs with tolerance and in safety. While there
are wide differences in personal incomes, it is nevertheless true that
the general standard of living is higher than that in any Eastern
city. These, together with a remarkably good health record, are
blessings which many other countries in this troubled area rightly
envy, and which we shall strive to maintain.

PART TWO

Digitized by Google

Population*

HE ESTIMATED total population at mid-year 1951 was 1,041,933.

This estimate is based on the actual figure at the 1947 census, to
which has been added the excess of births over deaths and the migra-
tional surplus of the succeeding years. The migrational surplus for
Singapore is calculated as the same fraction of the total migrational
surplus for Singapore and the Federation of Malaya as the popula-
tion of Singapore bears to the total population of the Federation of
Malaya and Singapore. It is realised that this method of calculation
is far from accurate, but there is no migration control between the
two territories.

Details by race since 1911 are as follows:—

; š Euro- Eura-
Year Chinese x Malays | Indians peans шапа Others Total
|
1911 (Census) .. | 219,577 | 41,806 . 27,755 Not | available 303,321
1921 (Census) .. 315,151 . 53,595 ' 32,314 6,145 5,436 | 5,717 418,358
1931 (Census) .. 1418,640 | 65,014 | 50,811 8,082 6,903 | 8,295 557,745
1947 (Census) .. | 729,473 | 113,803 | 68,967 9,279 9,110 | 7,512 938,144

) 749,591 | 116,364 | 69,474 9,660 | 9,354 | 7,599 962,042
1949 (Mid-year) | Estima- , 761,962 | 119,623 | 70,749 | 10,923 ; қ А

ted | 789,160 | 123,624 | 72,467 | 11,504 | 10,093 | 8,605 1,015,453
806,690 | 127,063 | 75,601 | 12,785 | 10,451 | 9,343 | 1,041,933

The table above indicates the remarkable increase in the popula-
tion of Singapore, the main reasons for which have changed over the
period recorded. The increase of some 83 per cent between 1911 and
1931 was due mainly to large scale migration from China and India.
Although it is not possible to select any exact turning point, a steady
natural increase had taken the place of migration as the main factor
before the last war. Migration between Singapore and the Federa-
tion of Malaya is an unknown quantity but it is believed to have
been substantial both during and after the Japanese occupation.

*Statistics in the body of this chapter do not include Christmas Island and the
Cocos-Keeling Islands, notes on which may be found at the end of the chapter.

24 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

In recent years emigration has exceeded immigration. The most
significant factor in present and future population trends is the
change in the ratio of males and females. In 1931 there were 171
males per 100 females; the ratio now is only 116: 100.

BIRTH AND BIRTH RATES

1931 | 1947

ey -- --- - oe ee |] | — ——T.ƏQT

Chinese ë ыз .. | 15,993 | 37.85 33,629

Indians .. .. | 1,020 | 19.64 43.30 3,425 | 45.30
Europeans .. a v: 169 20.55 | 312 | 35.79 690 | 53.97
Eurasians .. i in 199 | 28.53 359 | 39.84 382 | 36.55
Others a 22 M 227 | 29.09 | 185 | 28.27 402 | 43.03
Total .. | 20,470 | 36.37 | 43,045 | 45.89 | 48,116 | 46.17
Male A x [1973 | .. | 2212| 2. Ола ш
Female... 5 e| 9717! .. | 20,893 | .. | 23,365 |
Total .. лю .. азм. 4&6 у. _
Male births per 100 female births i сштш | .. | 16 — . |_ 106
BIRTHS BY SEX AND RACE, 1951
| Urban Rural Singapore
| Area Area Total
| d
MALES x
Europeans szi k 116 235 | 351
Eurasians .. Ар - 183 | 24 207
Chinese 14,205 4,895 19,100
Malays 1,812 1,330 3,142
Indians 1,338 386 1,724
Others 156 7] 227
Total 17,810 6,941 24,751
FEMALES
Europeans 115 224 339
Eurasians .. 159 16 175
Chinese 13,498 4,557 18,055
Malays 1,717 1,203 2,920
Indians 1,347 354 1,701
Others 133 41 174
Unknown .. T" | 1, 1
араа аы асе
Total 16969 | 6,396 > 23,365
| — | M ————— U
Grand Total | 34779. 2 13,337 | 48,116

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[$61 5307 Sj43HLON аму dOVM ‘XIS ӨНІМНІН

26 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The annual increase in the number of births in the post-war
period received a check in 1950 when the figure of 46,371 barely
passed the 1949 figure of 46,169, This resulted in a decrease from
the 1949 rate of 47.07 per 1,000 of the population, to 45.67. In 1951,
however, the numbers and rate again increased with 48,116 recorded
births, a rate of 46.17.

The crude birth rate does not give a satisfactory index of the
reproductive capacities of the various races nor is it possible on the
basis of existing statistics to construct an accurate picture of the
current age structure of the population and hence age specific ferti-
lity rates. It is believed, however, that the fertility of the Chinese
and Indians is considerably higher than that of the Malays.

DEATHS AND DEATH RATES

573 2%

ANNUAL REPORT 1951

DEATHS BY SEX AND RACE, 1951—continued

Urban Rural
Area Area
FEMALES

Europeans m Lu 17 5
Eurasians .. қа - 32 5
Chinese... m - 3,156 742
Malays... Ys en S55 406
Indians. .. Ge 24 211 53
Others e - m 23 4

Unknown .. v у 3 Ж

Unknown Race апа Sex - 1
Total .. 3,998 1,215
Grand Total .. 9,518 2,863
DEATHS BY AGE GROUPS, 1951

Urban Rural
Age Area Area
0— 1 day .. 5% ide 372 107
1- 7 days v ¿s 297 114
8-14 days à eu 172 . 47
15—21 days Eu S 159 28
22-28 days КЕ Т 91 16
Neo-Natal Deaths .. 1,091 312
1— 2 months N же 333 159
2– 3 months А T 309 105
3— 4 months bs өй 158 26
4- 5 months Ки s 126 51
5— 6 months 16 " 117 34
6- 7 months ini - 117 32
7- 8 months " 5% 117 28
8- 9 months А vs 105 37
9—10 months 2s Ж 97 29
10-11 months M i5 84 38
11-12 months K Я 90 21
Infantile Mortality .. | 2,744 | 872

Total

28 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

DEATHS BY AGE GROUPS, 1951—continued

|
| Urban Rural |
Age | Ara | Area Total
le Rei or ue e дм т = ve -— zum am 3 бысы Botte
1- 5 years Я o 1,336 | 49 | 1,831
5-10 years T T 205 | 103 308
10—15 years T T 89 | 23 112
15—20 years 5% Ти 157 | 39 196
20-25 years ws ТК 218 | 73 | 291
25-30 years M паса 218 | 55 273
30—35 years E б 34 | 6 1 387
35-40 years M" XH 389 7 | 468
40-45 years is 254 462 117 | 579
45-50 years e Е 580 | 19 699
50-55 years bd к 575 | 119 x ` 694
55 years and over. .. | 228 | 706 2,914
Age Unknown Т га 13* | is | 13*
| |
BO NEHME |
Grand Total .. 9,518* x 2,863 12,381*
— *Includes one unknown sex and race. Е |
DEATHS GROUPED ACCORDING ТО AGE, SEX AND RACE, 1951
| е : а | | =
Аре Groups Sex | 2 58 2 £ pi Š Total
Е ре s 2 3 2: i
(ИЕ a БЕК m
iS B | HM NECS Б лы Lu LIE
| |
| M ! 4. 3; 19 | 60; 30 4| 304
0- 1 day | € көшін а ite желде ИМА
| F ' 1]|..! пој 38| 13 2| 15
M |2|2| 176] s| 1| 7| 1| 26
1- 7 days ——[—— == opum qa
F |! 2 | 106 | 29| 13|..|..; 151
M | 1| 1| 25| 18) 6 ET | 122
8-14 days === танаға E шш лыш ш HEROUM үлен
F | | 741 14) 8| 11. 9
M | 58| 15] 6|..|..' 7
15-21 days жыл ВИ Жеш Мел ПЕН а жж
F | x | 80| 19] 712..., 108
м | | 3| n| doe) a. 48
22-28 days — — —_— c P=
ЕЕЕ 491 7 | 3) usd. 71%
Neo-Natal Deaths .. .. ШЕН 1 8: 989 | 265 | 108 17 | 7| 1,403
| M | 7| 6 561 158, 64 121 5| 813
Carried forward |-----|---------------------
| F | 2, 2 428; 107! 441 5| 2| 590

ANNUAL REPORT 1951
DEATHS GROUPED ACCORDING TO AGE, SEX AND RACE, 1951—continued

135

eae

173

suviseang | wie aol) |

Brought forward

| = | =
| 5 | %
=
имоиуип му
sISUO | ea
| sueipug
| SÁE|E ]A | ^
x әзәшчэ | °
suvsdoing | ~
x
®. x :
|
& i
B
|
$
& |
< X
|

Carried forward

28 days- 2 months
2- 3 months
3- 4 months
4— 5 months
7- 8 months
8- 9 months
9-10 months
Infant Mortality

5- 6 months
6- 7 months
10-11 months
11-12 months
1- 5 years
5-10 years

0 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

оз

DEATHS GROUPED ACCORDING TO AGE, SEX AND RACE, 1951 —continued

| |
ible | | ЈЕ
Age Groups Sex | Š 3 š x > E P ё Total
| , & " . 5 = =
| aja б | z 86 | 2
— | —————— | — | ———— ылы rre — nup) NE REN E.
| | (| =
| І 4
© M | 14 | 912195. 681^ 177123! 5| 3,104
Brought forward .. pue EL ЕТТУ ETT cin EM S
F 5/10 1,919! 551: 151| 3| 2| 2,651
M alk 0 6 232. 59
10-15 years ----------------
ЈЕ 1 39 n 31022 53
| M 5l.. 851 14 3 | 108
15-20 years | — ——!
| F ..| 49 x 01 91..| 88
| M 6|.| 100! 29, nl i| | 147
20-25 years I a a NUR жиы
| F Ill 79 46, 16| 1! 144
і a k пао |
| M | 5| 3| 105! 9) 1| 4 155
25-30 years = HA PRIMUM ала = ере SOLE
| F 1' 1| 75 | 3| 71 | 118
M | 3, 1 164; 32' 35| 2..1 237
30-35 years | — | и и E Sas
ШЕ; 3} 1j 12, 33i 10 1]..| 150
M 2| 2| 29: 30! 33 |.. | 296
35-40 years — — —'— Bru
F 136, 27 9 .. | ЖЕ;
M 3| 1| 288 43 55| 2;..| 392
40-45 years, коше л ss ке
| F | 1] 145, 3 8 2j.. | 187
| M | 9/ 1 33 45| 48| 3|.. | 49
45-50 years | | — =з MEE
F | 1| 15, 27, 61. TS 210
} ои |a .. | Ge — a
i M 6| s| 389' 47! 45) 1 = 493
50-55 years ---------- LI
F 1 0 27 12|1'.. 201
M 19 | 13 |1,393 | 148; 80123! .. | 1,676
55 years and over .. —— —— —
F 10 | 22 | 1,019 | 145 331 811 | 1,238
M |. 9|. 3 | 12
Age Unknown = — == ел с желін
Е
М |72 | 35 | 5,390 | 1,094 | 507 | 62! 8| 7,168
Total -------|---------|--і-1% *
| F |22 | 37 | 3,898 | 961 | 264 27| 3| 5,212*

Grand Total | M & F 7172

9,288 | 2,055, 771 | 89 | 13*| 12,381*

*Includes one unknown sex and race.

The 1951 crude death rate of 11.88 per 1,000 was almost as low as
the record of 11.84 in 1949. The ratio in 1950 was 12.12.

The only causes of death which showed an increase as compared
with 1950 were heart and genito-urinary diseases. In comparison

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 31

with statistics for the years prior to the war, there has been an im-
provement in all cases except deaths from circulatory disease. Deaths
due to pulmonary tuberculosis, at 1,096 per million is less than half
the pre-war rate. Other conditions which have shown a remarkable
reduction in comparison with pre-war statistics are: malaria and
unspecified fever 45 per cent; beri-beri 28 per cent; bronchitis and
pneumonia 60 per cent; infantile convulsions 56 per cent; influenza
and acute rheumatism 17 per cent; typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea
63 per cent. The general health of the Colony was remarkably good
bearing in mind existing housing and social conditions.

INFANT MORTALITY

The Infant Mortality Rate is calculated on the number of deaths
under one year of age per 1,000 live births.

| 1931 š 1947 1951

Fa aan am | ~ Infant Infant
' deaths Rate deaths Rate deaths Rate
| Registered Registered | Registered x =r
|

Chinese Ре m 3,041 183.83 2,671 79.43 2,478 66.69
Malays x PS 722 261.35 784 143.25 829 136.75
Indians n: i ‚171 163.73 236 76.45 242 70.66
Еигореапз 25 КЫ 5 29.59 18 57.69 16 23.19
Eurasians ds "T 23 110.55 28 77.99 14 36.65
Others 52 T 34 149.78 21 113.51 | 37 92.04
Total .. | 3,996 | 191.30 3,758 | 87.33 | 3,616 | 75.15

The Infant Mortality Rate of 75.15 in 1951 compared favourably
with any previous year except the low record of 72.04 in 1949. Com-
parative rates in 1939 and 1944 (Japanese occupation) are 130.43 and
285.00 respectively. There was a slight increase in the 1951 Indian
rate but the Chinese figure of 66.69 was a new low record. The
Malay rate is still comparatively high but is nevertheless decreasing.

While the overall rate is better than the England and Wales rate
of 90.90 over the period 1916-1920, it is still much above the latest
comparative figures. Still-births at 16.3 per 1,000 births in 1951
compares favourably with the 1949 England and Wales figure of
22.7 in 1949 but a comparison of the mortality rates over the first
three months of life, as shown in the table below, indicates that the
methods of feeding of the new born in Singapore are still far from
satisfactory.

32 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Of the 3,616 infant deaths registered in 1951, 2,010 were males
and 1,606 females; one was of undetermined sex.

Rate - | 82.23 75.2 32.4

MATERNAL MORTALITY

The maternal mortality rate continued to decline and reached a
record of 1.63 per 1,000 total births as compared with 1.85 in 1950,
over 7.00 in 1945 and 4.00 in 1939. The corresponding figure for
England and Wales in 1949 was 0.82.

MIGRATION STATISTICS BY SEA AND AIR DURING 1951

IMMIGRANTS

ADULTS | CHILDREN
Race — i c) Total
Male | Female Male | Female

European w. .. | 18,394 | 7,502 | 1,501 915 | 28,312
Eurasian " " 117 83 41 321 273
Chinese 7 .. | 29,133 | 6,991 | 2,466 | 1,611 | 40201
Malaysian T Ер 3,342 842 | 254 242 4,680
Indian and Pakistani 15417 1833! 766| 593 | 18,609
Others 2,794 x 601 — 170| 129| 3,694

АЕ
Қ

Total All Races 69,197 Zm: 17,852: 5,198 3,522 | 95,769

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 33

EMIGRANTS
x ADULTS CHILDREN
Race каз X с EE —— Total
| Male x Female | Male | Female |
T M MT PIE TUR
European. .. | 18,585 | 7,480) 1,441 883 28,389
Eurasian x Di 71 47 x 220. 8 146
Chinese in .. | 46,597 | 10,556: 5214 3,539 | 65,906
Malaysian - .. 5,323 1,611 | 530 538 | 8,002
| Р
Indian апа Pakistani .. | 15,587 1,811 | 871 | 671 18,940
|
Others К T | 2,324 685 | 273 2001 | 3,483
Total All Races .. ' 88,487 | 22,190 | 8,349. 5,840 | 124,866

CHINESE DECK PASSENGERS FROM AND TO CHINA AND HONG KONG, 1951

——À —— — — u. U —— —À—————

IMMIGRANTS | | EMIGRANTS

Jem ami стал ж u ЗА и бат Uma Gun 52 S, à 250 евра ИЦ RR. RR

nee C E — AUR —— —— 0. —— | ep
; | | | | | |

China .. 1 5,620 i 1,627! 959 | 598 | 8,804 11,603 · 2,591 | 1,778 1,602 | 17,574

; | |

Hong Kong .. | 4,712 | 1,468 | 57, 414 | 7,41 | 1446 2234 | 1,784 842 | 12,306
der ұланына Ue ШЫНДЕН

3,095 | 1,506 | 1,012 | 15,945 | 19,049 | 4,825 | 3,562 | 2,444 | 29,880

Total .. | 10,332
|

= m — ———

COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS—POPULATION, 1951
1951 (Mid-year)

Chinese .. ТЕ - 18
Malaysians P .. 1,178
Indians and Pakistanis s 3
Europeans .. " 2% 18
Eurasians .. Ys .. —
Others T $5 .. —

Total .. 1,217

—n U

The reduction of 273 over the last 12 months was due to emigration, to which
reference is made in Chapter XV of this Report.

34 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

CHRISTMAS ISLAND—POPULATION, 1951
1951 (Mid-year)

Chinese .. 2% .. 1,138
Malaysians as .. 303
Indians and Pakistanis a 4
Europeans .. TT ei 77
Eurasians .. 55 .. —
Others m m jo. —
Total .. 1,522

An increase of fifty over the last 12 months.

BIRTHS AND DEATHS, 1951

COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS CHRISTMAS ISLAND
Males Females Males Females
Births .. 40 32 Births .. 48 28

Deaths .. 5 7 Deaths .. 6 6

The Moon-Cake Festival, oil painting by Liu Kang, President of the Society
of Chinese Artists, Singapore

'SI9peo| UOIUL) apei] SIW “ғи “O2'4 'uoj[on T ЈәАЦО `uoH “FY 291 's?ruo[o? сц} 10) 9181S JO Алеј21026 L
suonvjay оудпа

ПІ

Occupation, Wages, Labour Organisation

HE TRAVELLER in Singapore is often fascinated, not only by the
f ` of the streets through which he passes, but also by
their names. Kampong Bugis, Arab Street, Lorong Tai Seng, Jalan
Sultan, da Silva Avenue, Dalhousie Lane, and many other pictur-
esque titles bear witness to the variety of races whose activities have
built up the prosperity of the city and as new areas are developed,
there is never any fear that this tradition cannot be maintained. If
variety is the spice of life from the traveller's point of view, it cannot
be denied that it complicates the problem of administration con-
siderably and in no department is this better illustrated than in that
which deals with the working population. Singapore depends for
its existence on trade, and to a lesser extent on the industries which
are rapidly being established here, and in every sphere of trade and
industry different races, with differing customs and languages are
to be found. The great majority of the population is Chinese, and
this preponderance is reflected in the returns of manual labourers
made by employers in March and September each year. Out of
123,365 labourers in employment in September 1951, 81,012 were
Chinese, 22,871 were Indians and 18,792 were Malays or Indone-
sians. The number of women employed was 16,240, a very low pro-
portion of the total. It is true that these figures relate to persons
employed in manual labour only, but a similar picture was presented
by the 1947 Census, which covered the whole field of employment.
At that time, out of a total in the Colony of 424,741 females enu-
merated (as against 552,098 males) the number in gainful employ-
ment was only 47,051 (as against 256,277 males) or a ratio of over
five males to one female. The industrial group employing the most
females was personal service with 18,714, the next largest being .
manufacture, with 7,780. In the United Kingdom, in May 1951
the employment figures for the principal industries were males:
9,795,000, females 4,753,000, a ratio of slightly more than two males
to one female. This striking difference may partly be attributed to

36 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

differences in custom, religion, family structure and degree of
emancipation, but the principal reason seems to be less fundamental
than any of these, and probably lies in the fact that the fields of
economic activity suitable to women are more limited in Singapore
than in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom more women
than men are employed in textile and clothing, great industries
which scarcely exist in Singapore. Nevertheless, this explanation
does not completely satisfy and is certainly not valid for some
trades, for example, the distributive trades and the food, drink, and
tobacco industries. In the United Kingdom the number of women
employed almost equals the number of men but in Singapore the
proportion of women to men is not more than 1 to 10. The reason
for the absence of women in the distributive trades probably is that
many of the occupations in these trades involve contact with the
public, and although more and more women are being employed
as shop assistants, it is likely to be many years before the general
reserve of Asian women will break down sufficiently to allow them
to invade in any numbers a field of employment which, judging by
the number of shops, appears to be a popular male preserve.

Of the numbers of manual workers employed in September, the
Government, public authorities such as the Singapore Harbour
Board and the City Council, and the Services accounted for 43,500,
the remainder being classified as ‘Commercial’. Government,
public authorities and the Services employed a very much higher
proportion of Indian workers than were employed in the ‘Commer-
cial' group. The industries which employed the largest numbers
were the building trade, employing 7,136, engineering 3,566, rubber
milling 4,388, rubber packing 4,057, stevedoring 2,166, road trans-
port services 7,747. Other industries which employed between one
and two thousand workers were rubber cultivation, glass manu-
facture, boat and ship building, lighterage, petroleum products,
sawmilling, shoe-making, printing and woodworking. The total
number recorded as employed was 6,520 more than in September
1950, an indication, if one was needed of a busy and prosperous
year. This does not mean to say that the year was plain sailing for
all industries. Some of the rice polishing mills, for instance, were
unable to obtain adequate supply of unpolished rice from Thailand
and had to switch to other work such as grinding fodder for animals
and grinding coffee beans. In the rubber milling industry, shortage
of raw rubber supplies from Indonesia during the middle of the
year forced employers to put workers on to part time work or to
discharge them. In some cases workers’ left of their own accord
rather than do part time work. In the latex industry curtailment

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 37

of purchasing in Europe and America forced factories to reduce
production, with the consequence that labour had to be discharged.
Fortunately this labour did not become surplus but was re-absorbed |

-- == w - -

COLONY OF SINGAPORE ANNUAL REPORT 1951

CORRIGENDA
Sub-head “Сот- Delete “and tin” as it appears after
merce” on page 10, “rubber”.

line 15.

Sub-head “Tin” on Delete

page 55, para. 1. “Less tin in concentrates was available
for smelting from the Federation of
Malaya because bandit activities there
affected the working of the mines.”

and Substitute

"Stocks had been depleted by extra buying
activity in the latter part of 1950 and, in
addition, there were decreased imports
of ore from sources outside Malaya
during 1951. Despite bandit activities
the production within the Federation of
Malaya was maintained at around the
same high figure as that for 1950—the
actual figures being 57,167 tons in 1951
against 57,537 tons in 1950."

Lightermen 25 T ..11U pen mwas
Compositors er^ Ж .. 6-7 per day
Rubber Packers . . 2.30-2.60 рег day

Sole Gummers in rubber shoe factories ..1.50-3 рег day
Sawyers $n ¿9 ie 4 per day

36 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Of the numbers of manual workers employed in September, the
Government, public authorities such as the Singapore Harbour
Board and the City Council, and the Services accounted for 43,500,
the remainder being classified as ‘Commercial’. Government,
public authorities and the Services employed a very much higher
proportion of Indian workers than were employed in the ‘Commer-
cial’ group. The industries which employed the largest numbers
were the building trade, employing 7,136, engineering 3,566, rubber
milling 4,388, rubber packing 4,057, stevedoring 2,166, road trans-
port services 7,747. Other industries which employed between one
and two thousand workers were rubber cultivation, glass manu-
facture, boat and ship building, lighterage, petroleum products,
sawmilling, shoe-making, printing and woodworking. The total
: number recorded as employed was 6,520 more than in September
1950, an indication, if one was needed of a busy and prosperous
year. This does not mean to say that the year was plain sailing for
all industries. Some of the rice polishing mills, for instance, were
unable to obtain adequate supply of unpolished rice from Thailand
and had to switch to other work such as grinding fodder for animals
and grinding coffee beans. In the rubber milling industry, shortage
of raw rubber supplies from Indonesia during the middle of the
year forced employers to put workers on to part time work or to
discharge them. In some cases workers left of their own accord
rather than do part time work. In the latex industry curtailment

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 37

of purchasing in Europe and America forced factories to reduce
production, with the consequence that labour had to be discharged.
Fortunately this labour did not become surplus but was re-absorbed
in other industries. Most factories using power have. also had to
contend with difficulties arising from black-outs.

There has been a tendency almost throughout the year for wages
to rise. This was especially noticeable in the early part of the year
and was a result of the rise in commodity prices which had followed
the rubber boom and the Korean war. In a survey made during the
third week in July, increases of from 10 per cent to 150 per cent in
the average earnings of workers in 42 different industries were
recorded as compared with. July 1950. The survey covered 22,037
workers. Earnings were highest in the cabinet-making, furniture-
making, and upholstery industry, the average per hour for all
workers (including juveniles) being $1.12. Earnings were also high
in the jewellery, dress-making, building and sawmilling industries.
Earnings were lowest in weaving and grain-milling. In rubber culti-
vation, male adults averaged 46 cents per hour and female adults
31 cents per hour, the all workers average being 39 cents. This is
one of the few industries in which the number of female workers
almost equals the number of males. In two of the biggest employing
industries, general engineering and rubber milling, the all worker
averages were 63 cents and 66 cents respectively.

The cost of living showed an upward trend during the year accont:
ing to a food and groceries budget compiled by the Registrar of
Malayan Statistics and since demands for wage increases were
realised by almost all employers to be a reflection of this rising cost,
an amicable agreement was reached in nearly every case. The
increase sometimes took the form of an addition to basic wage, and
sometimes of an improved cost of living allowance. Demands
continued to be presented during the remainder of the year, but in
far smaller numbers. Among the principal occupations to be affected
by these increases were bus-driving, lorry-driving, quarrying, saw-
milling, brickworking, shoe-making and porterage. The following
approximate daily rates of wages were paid to workers in various
selected occupations during the year:—

Bus Drivers аж = .. 96-$9 per day
Carpenters as e .. 6-10 per day
Glass Blowers m = .. 5-11 per day
Laundry Ironers .. T .. 5-6 per day
Lightermen Ss iis ..110 per month
Compositors T 94 .. 6-7 per day
Rubber Packers .. ..2.30-2.60 per day

Sole Gummers in rubber shoe factories ..1.50-3 per day
Sawyers on be .. 4 per day

38 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

With effect from Ist January, 1951 all daily-rated employees of
Government recetved an increase of 16 cents in their basic pay.
This brought their basic wages into line with those paid in the
Federation of Malaya. .

It was not to be expected that these wage changes could be effect-
ed without discussion, or even dispute, and in fact most of the
alterations were only brought about after some keen bargaining.
Fortunately it is now well established in the minds of both employers
and workers that negotiation is the best method of solving difficul-
ties of this kind. Although some settlements have been reached by
direct negotiation between the employer and his workers, parties
to disputes still often prefer to use the neutral ground offered by
the Labour Department, and the disinterested services of.one of
its officers to conduct the discussions. Under the Industrial Courts
Ordinance, any trade dispute, which means any dispute or difference
between employers and workers, or between workmen and workmen
connected with the employment or non-employment, or the terms
of the employment, or with the conditions of labour, of any person,
can if both parties consent be referred by the Commissioner for
Labour to the Industrial Court or to arbitration. The Governor may .
also refer to the Industrial Court for advice in any matter relating
to or arising out of a trade dispute, though the Ordinance provides
that this may not be done until the arrangements for conciliation
already existing in the trade or industry have been tried without
success. An Industrial Court has been in being since January 1950
when a panel of members was gazetted. On no occassion during the
year Was it necessary to refer any dispute to the Court or to arbitra-
tion. A total of 69 major disputes were dealt with by the Labour
Department of which 52 concerned wage increases. The causes of
other disputes, 17 in number, varied from demands for re-instatement
of dismissed workers, to complaints of assault by overseers, and
disputes over the division of work. Though Singapore's strike
record is not so good as in 1950, the number of man-days lost is
still far below the high figures of the years immediately after the
war. Four strikes took place during the year resulting in the loss of
22,570 man-days. None of the strikes was successful from the
workers point of view since in each case they returned to work on
the employers' terms. The fact that so few strikes have occurred
is at least partly attributable to the good sense of Union leaders,
for without this many more of the disputes might easily have resulted
in strikes. One feature of the more serious disputes was that in many
cases they took place in the bigger, more modern factories in which
wage rates and general labour conditions were almost certainly

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 39

better than in most factories in the Colony. This may be partly due
to the fact that unions find it difficult to recruit and keep members
who are employed in smaller concerns. Another interesting feature
was the introduction of ‘go-slow’ tactics in a few cases. In one
factory in which 'go-slow' was alleged, the employer seriously
considered ordering a lock-out but, though a stoppage of work did
in fact occur, a lock-out was avoided and the matter was settled by
negotiation.

The Commission of Inquiry set up in July 1950 to report on the
establishment and working of the Seamen's Registration Bureau
and other matters connected with the engagement of seamen pre-
sented its report early in 1951. The alleged malpractices and charges
of corruption made by certain unions were not established but the
Commission recommended certain amendments to the Merchant
Shipping (Registration and Supply of Seamen Amendment) Ordin-
ance, 1948 and proposed that the Seafarers’ Administration Board
should in future be called an Advisory Board with clearly defined
functions and duties.

Though most unions have during the year been able to devote
their energies to consolidating their own positions still further, some
have had to face rivalry from new unions in the same industry,
organised by leaders of experience. This was one of the indications
that a small group of well-versed Trade Unionists, with a good grasp
of Trade Union law and the preparation of Trade Union rules, has
begun to appear. The number of unions of employees rose again,
from 91 to 107, and membership increased by 9,727 to 58,322. The
number of employers' unions increased by one, to the total of 40,
with a membership of 4,902. There were in addition four federations
of Trade Unions. The actual running of unions, and the keeping of
accounts, still leaves in some cases much to be desired and for the first
time, charges have been laid against union officials who have failed
to make the requisite returns. Such cases are the exception, and both
the management of unions and co-operation between unions and
employers remain on the whole good. This is perhaps assisted by
the vertical structure of most unions, which are organised on com-
pany or departmental lines rather than on a craft or occupational
basis. Such a structure though it has obvious disadvantages is in
some ways more suited to Trade Unionism in its present state of
development in Singapore and makes for easier contact between
the employer and the union of his workers. Three industries, the
lighterage, barbers and rubber milling have already established
joint negotiating machinery and in a number of individual under-
takings there are permanent arrangements for periodical meetings

40 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

between the two sides. More recently, two works committees have
been set up from which it is hoped permanent negotiating machinery
will develop. The interest which had been displayed for some time
in the formation of a Trades Union Congress bore fruit during the
year and on 13th June, 1951, the Singapore Trades Union Congress
was established. The rules of the Congress indicate that it is in fact
a Federation of Trade Unions. The 28 unions which, at the end of
the year were members of the Congress came from a fair cross-
section of Singapore's industries but a number of the larger indus-
trial unions had not joined.

The initiative for improvement did not always come from the
employees through their unions. Some employers voluntarily made
increases in wage rates and introduced improved conditions of
work. Though the Labour Ordinance provides for a nine-hour day,
very few undertakings work for more than eight hours, and over-
time at time and a half or more is normally paid thereafter. Some
factories remain open for seven days a week, but no labourer may
be compelled to work for more than six days a week, and the practice
usually is for the worker to take a day off when he wishes. Most of
the bigger employers give their staff holidays with pay. In some
cases they are given on Public Holidays or festival days and in
other cases a consecutive period constituting an annual holiday and
a certain number of public holidays are granted. The regulations
for Government daily-rated employees were altered during the year:
hitherto these employees had been granted a total of twelve days a
year on certain specified public holidays designated to meet racial
and religious feelings. As from 1st April, 1951 a total of 15 days
were given, only three of them to be on designated public holidays,
the remaining twelve to be taken when the employee liked, provided
six of them were taken consecutively. The principle of an annual
holiday in addition to a certain number of public holidays with pay
had been introduced in previous years by some of the more en-
lightened industrial employers and by the Singapore Harbour
Board and the Services. There are nevertheless a number of firms
who give no holidays with pay at all, and a survey in July showed
that this was the case with 218 out of 587 covered in the survey.

Factory conditions vary widely; at one end of the scale lies the
small and crowded workshop in which the object appears to have
been to instal as much machinery as possible, and to fill up the
remaining space with scrap; at the other end lies the modern factory,
scientifically laid out and equipped, one of them having neatly
tended flower beds, airy sleeping accommodation, and dining hall
furnished with gramophone and cinema screen. Some of the bigger

= ANNUAL REPORT 1951 41

factories transport their workers from their homes to the factory,
and in some cases housing is available near the factory. Occasionally
quarters are provided by the employer, and in certain areas the
Singapore Improvement Trust has built blocks of flats suitable for
artisans and their families.

The Weekly Holidays Ordinance which obliges retail shops, with
a few exceptions, to close on one day a week was first enforced in
1950. Although nearly 500 convictions under the Ordinance were
obtained in 1951, there is little doubt that the provisions of the
Ordinance are being widely observed, and the benefits greatly
appreciated. Shopkeepers are permitted to choose the day on which
the shop shall be closed, the great majority choosing Sunday.
Friday remains the next most popular day, owing to the number of
Muslim owners. Large numbers of shopkeepers continue to take
advantage of the concession which permits a temporary alteration
of the closing day when the usual closing day coincides with a
national festival. Many methods of evasion are still being employed,
and these can only be circumvented by unceasing vigilance on the
part of the inspecting staff.

Under the Children and Young Persons Ordinance which came
into force in 1950, the minimum age for employment in a factory
was fixed at 14. Rules under the Ordinance regulate the hours which
may be worked without a break for young persons between the ages
of 14 and 18. Inspections show that there is no widespread exploita-
tion of children and young persons as a source of labour but one
case of the employment of under age children was discovered, and
a successful prosecution brought. The same Ordinance has special
provisions covering children taking part in public entertainments.
All children under 17 years of age in such employment are required
to hold a licence and must be medically examined. Considerable
work has been done in the protection of these children during the
year, and nearly all of them have now been licensed. Investigations
revealed a certain amount of exploitation of child actors, more by
parents than by employers, usually by bringing pressure to bear on
the child to work for long hours, and then collecting so much of
the wages as to leave the child scarcely sufficient for subsistence.
A close supervision of wage payments and the opening of Post
Office Savings Bank accounts has limited this practice considerably.
At the same time hours of work have been reduced and holidays
increased, and with the assistance of troupe proprietors, most
actors, both adults and children have been X-rayed for T.B. and
where necessary treated. The original suspicion of western medicine

42 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

has now largely been overcome and this increase in confidence is
reflected in increased co-operation with the Labour Department.

Technical instruction is provided at the Government Junior
Technical School for boys of secondary school age in such subjects
as mechanical and electrical engineering, plumbing and radio. À
number of private firms and Government Departments run appren-
ticeship schemes or provide in-plant training, and the Services also
train their own tradesmen. The shortage of skilled labour was most
apparent in the building trade, and to meet this, a working party
was set up to consider means of dealing with the situation. The year
also saw the beginning of a scheme to provide some form of rehabi-
litation and retraining for persons disabled either by accident or
by disease. The scheme is at present a voluntary one with employers
who are willing to participate agreeing to take on disabled persons
for a three-month training period. During this time the worker is
paid his actual travelling expenses, together with a subsistence
allowance in order that an employer may not incur a loss through
providing training. There is no compulsion on an employer to
continue to employ a disabled person after the expiry of his three
months training, but in very few cases has an employer in fact
ceased to employ the worker. Recommendation of disabled persons
for suitable kinds of employment is made monthly by a Technical
^ Selection Committee which consists of representatives from Govern-
ment, Hospitals, workers and employers. It has been the policy to
recommend to employers only persons for whom there is reasonable
hope of permanent cure (this is particularly important in arrested
T.B. cases), and to obtain as far as possible a type of work which
has an employment value, rather than one which is unskilled and
merely provides a subsistence wage. The success which has so far
been achieved is encouraging in that a number of disabled persons
have been put on their feet again.

The Labour Department continued to act for injured workmen
in compensation cases. A total of 2,483 cases were reported to the
Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation of which 71 were fatal,
95 were cases of permanent disablement, and 2,317 were cases of
temporary disablement. The total amount awarded was $141,493.93.
Cases frequently occurred in which the dependants of deceased
workmen were resident in other countries, and there were inevitable
delays in payment. Where there were no such complications pay-
ment was usually effected within two months. Use was also made
of the services of the Department in paying relief raised by fellow
workers and sympathisers of the victims of the m.v. Dromus, an
oil tanker which caught fire in Singapore.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 ` 43

14,732 persons, males and females, registered for employment
at the Public Employment Exchange during the year, and 9,830
were successfully placed. Of this latter number, 2,973 were women,
the majority of whom were amahs. Although the numbers registered
showed a small decrease of about 400 over the previous year, the
number of placings rose by nearly 700. More striking is the increase
in the number of employers who made use of the Exchange: 3,236
registered as against 1,555 in 1950. Domestic servants, drivers,
junior clerks and unskilled labourers were all placed in employment
with comparatively little difficulty. On the other hand, there was
an unsatisfied demand for stenographers, secretaries, accountants
and brick-layers. The Exchange is still at times unfairly blamed for
the shortcomings of the workers it introduces, but it has never
claimed to be anything more than an agency for putting those who
want work into touch with those who offer it, and until machinery
for trade testing is established the functions of the Exchange cannot
go beyond this point. There is provision in the Labour Ordinance
for the adjudication of disputes between employers and labourers
relating to wages, conditions of employment, advances of money,
or to the keeping of accounts. These disputes are heard by an officer
of the Labour Department from whose decision appeal may be
made to the High Court. The hearing of these cases though based
on ordinary court rules of procedure is of necessity somewhat less
formal, because it is seldom that either party is able without help to
present a coherent case. The system commends itself to those con-
cerned since decisions are made by officers well versed in the cus-
toms and languages of the litigants, and are given with a minimum
of delay, at no expense to the parties. During the year 198 cases
were instituted and a total amount of $33,583.38 was ordered to be
paid to complainants. In addition the Department assisted in the
settlement of a large number of miscellaneous disputes, which were
not covered by the Labour Ordinance.

The Labour Advisory Board advised Government on labour
matters throughout the year. This Board, which is tri-partite in
character, sits under the chairmanship of the Commissioner for
Labour and has twelve members in all, four each representing
Government, employers and workers. Amongst the many subjects
discussed by the Board were weekly and daily rates of pay, the
employment of persons suffering from T.B., workmen's compensa-
tion, workers' housing, holidays with pay, and wages councils.
Singapore continued to co-operate with, and to take advantage of
the facilities offered by the International Labour Organisation. A
number of International Labour Office officials passed through

44 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Singapore during the year and the opportunity was taken of making
many useful contacts. Two International Labour Office experts
spent several weeks in Singapore advising a Commission which had
been set up to enquire into Retirement Benefits. A Government and
a worker's representative attended a seminar on Labour Statistics
which was held at New Delhi, and the Colony was also represented
at an International Labour Conference on Manpower which was
held at Bangkok at the end of the year.

Public Finance and Taxation

PUBLIC FINANCE

URING 1951, the public finances of the Colony showed further
improvement and the General Revenue Balance increased from
$103 millions at the end of 1950 to over $165 millions. The original
estimates for the year had budgetted for a deficit of $3.7 millions
but expenditure was very much below expectations. One of the chief
reasons for this was the failure to complete the very heavy pro-
gramme of Public Works owing to shortages of senior staff, skilled
labour and materials, while other projects had to be postponed
owing to excessively high prices. At the same time, revenue was
extremely buoyant and the latest estimated figures indicated a likely
surplus for the year of over $52.5 millions.
The tables below give the latest revenue and expenditure figures
available. The original estimates and the actual 1950 figures are
Included for purposes of comparison:—

REVENUE
Head 1950 1951 1951
(Actual Figures) (Provisional) (Estimate)
$ c. $ c. $ c.

Licences, Excise and Internal
Revenue not otherwise classi- |
fied .. Е .. 88,750,691 36 134,528,579 00 93,193,578 00

Fees of Court or Office, Pay-
ments for Specific Services
and Reimbursements-in-aid 6,673,640 08 8,120,742 00 10,767,516 00

Posts and Telecommunications 9, 84, 168 09 10,132,318 00 8,565,200 00

Rents on Government MES 2,640,331 57 2,895,847 00 3,821,029 00

Interest А 3,286,727 97 5,464,752 00 3,075,000 00

Miscellaneous Receipts 3,178,961 45 4,738,035 00 4,613,346 00

Land Sales and Premia оп

Grants . 31,395 24 15,586 00 15,000 00
Grants-in-aid Colonial Develop-
ment Fund and Welfare Act 69,857 16 58 00 683,999 00

Total Revenue ..114,015,772 92 165, 165,895, 917 00 124, 734,668 00

46 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

EXPENDITURE
Head 1950 1951 1951
(Actual Figures) (Provisional) ( Estimate)
$ c. $ c. $ c.

6,136,222 69 11,498,800 00 10,246,033 00
4,342,156 27 5,255,842 00 5,768,007 00

Administrative—General
Technical
Charge on account of Public

Debt sg .. 8,092,857 00 5,950,000 00 5,950,000 00
Charitable Allowances and Con-

tributions x 89,350 14 177,044 00 245,226 00
Defence (Volunteer Forces) 3,277,701 56 2,465,948 00 6,008,627 00
Education 6,298,918 60 12,563,216 00 14,937,243 00
Judicial, Police and Prisons 9,938,219 62 18,309,366 00 16,918,180 00
Medical —General 7.000, 781 21 10,179,530 00 12,015,468 00

Miscellaneous Services ` 27. 804,059 16 23,100,203 00 13,819,376 00

Pensions, Allowances and Gra-

tuities . 4,361,932 92 2,860,136 00 4,002,244 00
Postal and Telecommunica-

tions ate 6,377,320 71 6,376,919 00 9,168,669 00
Public Works 9,934,805 92 10,082,785 00 22,756,804 00
Social Services. 3,446,660 84 4,282,539 00 5,882,672 00
Grants-in-aid Colonial Develop-

ment Fund and Welfare Act 217,989 00 683,999 00

Total Expenditure .. 97,100,986 64 113,320,317 00 128,402,548 00

SUMMARY
1950 1951 1951
(Actual Figures) (Provisional) (Estimate)
$ c. $ с. % с.
Revenue 114,015,772 92 165,895,917 00 124,734,668 00
Expenditure 97,100,986 64 113,320,317 00 128 402, 548 00

+ 16,914,786 28 + 52,575,600 00 — 3,667,880 00

On the revenue side the biggest increases were under ‘Licences,
Excise and Internal Revenue'. Included in the total of $134,528,579
under this head is an amount of over $50 millions from Income Tax
as compared with the original estimate of $31 millions.

The planned expansion of the Education Programme, in parti-
cular, was responsible for greatly increased expenditure, and the
Medical Services and the Police also showed substantial increases.
The Personal Emoluments of all departments were increased by the
enhanced Cost of Living Allowances introduced at the beginning
of the year. Under ‘Miscellaneous Services’ expenditure, over $4.5
millions were paid to the Government of India in settlement of a
war-time debt on account of Japanese internees. Grants totalling
$5 millions were made to the Singapore City Council.

Graph ‘A’ facing page 50 shows the continued rise in revenue
and expenditure during the post-war years.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 47

PUBLIC DEBT

With the final payment in 1950 on account of the pre-war Savings
Certificates, the Public Debt was reduced in 1951 to $115 millions.
The greater portion of this is in respect of the former Straits Settle-
ments Government and still requires to be adjusted with the Govern-
ment of the Federation of Malaya. Payments for interest and sums
set aside as sinking funds amounted during the year to $5.95 millions
which is only 3.6 per cent of the latest revenue figure of $165.9
millions. Fully adequate sinking funds are maintained in respect of
each Loan.

Delais of the individual Loans are as follows:—

S.S. 3% War Loan 1952,1959 | 25,000,000 | April; Oct. Ist Oct., 1952

S.S. 3% War Loan 1953 1960 10,000,000

|
S.S. 3% Loan 1962/1972 .. ' 30,000,000 | 15th April; 15th April, 1962
I5th Jan.; 15th July, 1953

Singapore's main sources of revenue are from income tax and
customs duties on tobacco, liquor and petroleum. The chief forms
of subsidiary taxation are Entertainments Duty, Estate Duty,
Stamp Duty, and a tax on Totalisator Bets and Sweepstakes.

The importance of these sources of income which are responsible
for nearly $130 millions out of the total revenue of $166 millions

48 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

received in the Colony, can be judged from the graph 'B' facing

page 51 and from the following details.

Head 1950 1951 1951
(Actual Figures) (Provisional) (Estimate)
| 5 5 5

Liquors Revenue .. .. 13,278,704 19,795,638 13,000,000
Petroleum Revenue .. . 10,295,563 12,048,013 10,500,000
Tobacco Revenue .. 25,226,294 32,291,826 26,000,000
Entertainments Duty uis 3,385,607 4,545,629 3,200,000
Income Tax m .. 26,532,556 50,351,004 31,000 000
Estate Duty . s 2,897,255 4,326,077 2,250,000

Totalisator Bets and Sweep-
stakes E 2,582,882 4,529,660 2,750,000
Stamp Duties 55 P 979,991 1,603,754 1,000,000
85,178,852 129,491,601 89,700,000

INCOME TAX

Income tax is collected both from individuals and from companies.
The rate of tax upon companies was increased from twenty to thirty
per cent with effect from the year of assessment 1951.

Particulars of the rates of tax on individuals are:—

Chargeable Income $ Rate of Tax
On the first 500 .. .. 3 per cent
On the next 500 .. .. 4 per cent
On the next 500 .. .. Š рег cent
On the next 500 .. .. 6 per cent
On the next 1,000 .. .. 7 per cent
On the next 2,000 .. .. 8 per cent
On the next 2,000 .. .. 10 per cent
On the next 3,000 .. .. 12 per cent
On the next 5,000 .. .. 15 per cent
On the next 35,000 .. .. 20 per cent
On every dollar exceeding 50,000 . . 30 per cent

The above rates are charged on the individual's assessable income
less the following deductions for personal reliefs:—

$
Unmarried person hz M .. 3,000
Married couple - .. 5,000
Married couple with 1 child V .. 5,750
Married couple with 2 children .. .. 6,250
Married couple with 3 children .. .. 6,750
Married couple with 4 children .. .. 7,050
Married couple with 5 children . 7,350

thereafter $200 per child up to a maximum T 8,150

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 49

In 1951, there were approximately 16,000 tax-payers who paid in
all just over $50 millions. Since 1948, there has been provision for
relief from double taxation in accordance with an agreement con-
cluded between His Majesty's Government and the Governments of
Singapore and of the Federation of Malaya. The rates of tax are |
identical in the Colony and in the Federation.

CUSTOMS DUTIES

Duties are collected on intoxicating liquors, tobacco and petro-
leum. Apart from these duties, Singapore remains a free port and
is thus enabled to carry on her important entrepot trade without
interference.

Duties on intoxicating liquors are imposed in accordance with the
scale shown in Appendix B to Part II of this Report. Apart from full
and preferential duties on imported liquors which are imposed at
the time of release for local consumption, there are excise duties on
intoxicating liquors distilled locally, or prepared in bond and released
for local consumption. Samsu, beer and stout are the only intoxicat-
ing liquors made locally. The rates of duty remained unchanged
throughout the year. For some of the items the rates are on a lower
scale than in the Federation of Malaya.

Details of the rates of tobacco duties are also shown in Appendix
B. Here too, there was no change during the year.

The duty on petroleum is sixty-eight cents per gallon, whilst on
kerosene a duty of five cents per gallon is levied.

ENTERTAINMENTS DUTY

Entertainments duty continued to be charged at rates which have
been in force since 1946. But at the end of the year a concession in
the form of half-rates for ‘live’ entertainments was agreed, and this
will be introduced from Ist January, 1952. The full duty is levied
on the following scale:—

cents.

Where the payment for admission (including the

amount of the duty) does not exceed 10 cents попе
exceeds 10 cents but does not exceed 20cents .. 5
exceeds 20 cents but does not exceed 30 cents .. 10
exceeds 30 cents but does not exceed 50 cents .. 15
exceeds 50 cents but does not exceed $1 .. 25
exceeds $1 but does not exceed $1.50 .. 40

and thereafter an additional 20 cents of entertain-
ment duty for every increase of 50 cents in pay-
ment for admission.

50 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

ESTATE DUTY

The rates of duty range from one per cent on estates valued at
$1,001 up to forty per cent on estates valued at $5 millions and over.

Remission of duty on the first $40,000 of property passing to
certain specified relatives is allowed in respect of war casualties
during the period 3rd September, 1939 to 1st October, 1946, and in
respect of deaths as a result of the Émergency. A further remission
is made on all ex-gratia awards in respect of War Damage payable
under the War Damage Ordinance, 1949, to the estates of deceased
persons. A record sum of $4.3 millions was collected in 1951.

DUTIES ON TOTALISATOR BETS AND SWEEPSTAKES

Duties in respect of Totalisator Bets are collected at the rate of
ten per cent. For sweepstakes in respect of horse races, the rate of
duty is twenty per cent.

More than $4.5 millions was collected during the year.

STAMP DUTIES

Stamp duties are payable on a wide range of commercial and legal
documents specified under the Stamp Ordinance. In some cases the
duty is a fixed amount, as on an agreement or Statutory Declara-
tion; in others it is an ad valorem duty, such as on the amount of
the consideration money in a conveyance of property or on the
amount secured in a mortgage. In certain cases, it is obligatory to
use impressed stamps which can be obtained only from the Stamp
Office; in other cases ordinary postage stamps can be used.

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Currency and Banking

CURRENCY

URRENCY issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency,
Malaya, is the only legal tender in the Colony and its depen-
dencies, Christmas and Cocos Islands. The value of the Malayan
dollar, which is on the sterling exchange standard, is fixed at 2s. 4d.
The currency is also exclusively legal tender throughout the Federa-
tion of Malaya and in Brunei. Since the liberation it has been widely
used in the Colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak, where it has
circulated as legal tender together with the local currencies of those
territories. These latter will in due course be withdrawn in pursuance
of the Agreement to set up a Board of Commissioners, Malaya and
British Borneo.

No figures of actual circulation can be given for Singapore alone.
The figures below refer to the total amount of Malayan currency in
circulation on 31st December, 1951, in all the territories mentioned
above, including whatever amount may be circulating or held in
adjoining foreign territories:—

$
Notes эз .. 764,109,203
Silver Coin - .. 23,224,041
Other Coin Ар .. 21,379,260
808,712,504

The currency circulation continued to expand during the year,
due largely to the continued high price of rubber. Sterling deposits
by Malayan Banks to the Currency Fund amounted to £16,281,000
during the year, and the resultant expansion of Malayan currency
was $138,623,148.58.

During the year the Governments of the Colonies of Sarawak and
North Borneo entered into a Currency Agreement with the Malayan
Governments, and legislation giving effect to this was passed by the
participating Governments. Under this legislation, provision is made

52 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

for the constitution of a Currency Commission which has the sole
right to issue notes and coin for use as currency in the Federation of
Malaya, the Colonies of Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo and
the State of Brunei, and to manage a currency fund. A Board is to
be set up consisting of five persons, two of whom shall be the Finan-
cial Secretaries of Singapore and of the Federation of Malaya. A
third is to be appointed jointly by the Governors of Sarawak, North
Borneo and the Resident of Brunei, whilst a further two persons are
to be appointed by the participating Governments acting in concert.
The Chairman of the Commissioners is to be the Commissioner
discharging the duties of the Financial Secretary, Singapore. It is
stipulated that the Board shall meet twice in every calendar year.
The relevant Singapore legislation is the Currency Ordinance, No.
42 of 1951. The effective date for the introduction of these arrange-
ments is Ist January, 1952.

BANKING AND EXCHANGE

The following banks carried on business in the Colony during
1951:— |

Ban Hin Lee Bank

Bank of China

Bank of India

Banque de l'Indochine

Chartered Bank of India, Australia & China
*Chung Khiaw Bank

Eastern Bank

Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation

Indian Bank

Indian Overseas Bank

Kwantung Provincial Bank
TKwang Lee Banking Co.

Lee Wah Bank

Mercantile Bank of India

National City Bank of New York

Nationale Handelsbank N.V.

Netherlands Trading Society
*Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation
*Overseas Union Bank
*Sze Hai Tong Banking & Insurance Co.
*United Chinese Bank

United Commercial Bank

*Banks incorporated in Singapore.
TThis Bank is a partnership Business registered in Singapore.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 53

Two new banks, the United Commercial Bank and the Bank of
India, commenced business in the Colony in March and May, 1951,
respectively.

In addition to the above-mentioned banks, a number of ‘Remit-
tance Shops' operated under permit in Singapore for the transmission
of family remittances to China, particularly to areas where there are
no banking facilities.

POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK

The Singapore Post Office Savings Bank started operations as a
separate entity on the 1st January, 1949. The Savings Bank, which
had hitherto covered the whole of the Straits Settlements, was
divided by transferring the Penang and Malacca divisions to the
Federation of Malaya and by the severance of the Labuan division.

At the end of the year there were 103,051 depositors, an increase
of 27.4 per cent over 1950 when the total number was 80,862. The
total amount deposited during 1951 was $35,348,514, which com-
pared with $28,298,747 in 1950. The average amount standing to
the credit of each depositor showed a slight decrease from $350 in
1950 to $343 during 1951.

During the year consideration was given to the maximum amounts
which may be placed in any single account, and it was arranged that
from 1st January, 1952, up to $20,000 maximum may be deposited,
subject to a limit of not more than $5,000 in any one year. Up to
$50 can be withdrawn on demand, but for larger sums a few days
notice is necessary.

Commerce

INGAPORE was founded as a ‘free port’ and to this day its com-

mercial prosperity is based on its position as an entrepót for

the surrounding territories in South-East Asia. Primary produce

from neighbouring territories is imported, processed and re-exported,

and goods from manufacturing countries are imported and dis-
tributed to these territories.

The position of the Colony as an entrepót makes it essential that
no avoidable forms of control restricting free trade are maintained.
Unfortunately, post-war conditions have necessitated the introduc-
tion of certain controls, e.g. it was necessary to restrict expenditure
on hard currency and to ensure that the needs of the Colony and
the Malayan Peninsula are satisfied before certain goods are re-
exported.

Singapore being a member of the Sterling Area, it is in the general
interest to assist in the Area's balance of payments, and it is for this
reason that expenditure of hard currency must be restricted to some
extent. Those restrictions apply, however, only on goods of a non-
essential nature, and those items which are available in adequate
quantities and at comparable prices from other areas.

Not only were the 1950 levels of trade maintained, but the increases
in imports and exports were such that 1951 was for Singapore a
record trading year. Total imports were 3,625 million Malayan
dollars, an increase in value of 69 per cent over 1950 and exports
totalled 4,095 million Malayan dollars, 62 per cent more than in
1950. The extent of trade may be gauged from the fact that taking
1938—100 the pan-Malayan index number for volume of imports
was 225 compared with 170 in 1950 and for exports 184 compared
with 174 in 1950. Singapore fully maintained its position as the
main commercial centre of South-East Asia and as the chief port
of the Federation of Malaya. The Colony handled 76 per cent of
the Malayan trade.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 55

The main reason for the increased exports was again the strong.
demand and high prices for rubber which in turn caused a consider-
able increase in imports of foodstuffs and consumer goods.

RUBBER

The year opened at a price level for R.S.S. No. 1 f.o.b. of approxi-
mately 186 Malayan cents per 16. Continued demand by the U.S.
stockpile authorities sent prices up further and on 9th February,
1951, a level of 2371 Malayan cents was reached. A decline took
place with various fluctuations and the year closed on a level of
approximately 140 Malayan cents per Ib.

Approximate average prices for the year were:—

(1950 figures are given in brackets)
R.S.S. No. 1 f.o.b. Malayan cents 1694 (1081)
R.S.S. No. 2 f.o.b. Malayan cents 1634 (1061)
R.S.S. No. 3 f.o.b. Malayan cents 156} (1041)
*C' Blankets f.o.b. Malayan cents 1251 (90)

In May 1951, the export of rubber to China was totally prohibited
and at the same time exports to Soviet Russia and satellite countries
were limited.

In July, the first applications were received to export rubber to
South Korea. A system was introduced whereby export was per-
mitted against Certificates of Internal Consumption issued by the
Minister of Commerce and Industry, Pusan, South Korea. Exports
have been permitted freely against such certificates and totalled
2,112 tons.

Increased imports from Indonesia (particularly from Java and
Sumatra) brought foreign imports of rubber into Singapore from
372,715 tons in 1950 to 462,986 tons in 1951. These increased im-
ports account for an increase in ocean shipments of rubber from
665,025 tons in 1950 to 750,222 tons in 1951.

TIN

Exports of tin metal from Singapore in 1951 amounted to 29,398.66
tons compared with 35,855 tons in 1950. Less tin in concentrates was
available for smelting from the Federation of Malaya because
bandit activities there affected the working of the mines.

The average wholesale price for tin was £1,082.17.4 per ton in
1951 compared to £745.11.64 in 1950. The peak monthly average
price of £1,467.7.6 in February, however, fell to £802.7.0 in August.
By December, the price had recovered slightly to £978.7.7.

56 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

COPRA

The year started with a price of approximately $49 per picul
f.o.b. and the price rose steadily until the first week of March when
business was done as high as $65 per picul. After that, prices de-
clined gradually and the year closed at a level of $39 per picul.

TEXTILES

The imports of piecegoods totalled 452.6 million square yards
compared with 400.9 million square yards in 1950. There were
indications that stocks at the end of the year were excessive and the
second half of 1951 proved an extremely difficult trading period.

STRATEGIC MATERIALS

The impact o£ the Korean war was responsible for the introduc-
tion of restrictive measures affecting exports of strategic materials
to certain destinations. To ensure that Hong Kong was not deprived
of goods essential to her internal economy, a system was introduced
whereby, on production of an Essential Certificate issued by the
Hong Kong Government, local exporters have been permitted to
export essential commodities, including rubber, to Hong Kong.
This system has worked satisfactorily and has helped to ensure that
exports of strategic materials have not been made to prohibited
destinations.

TRANSPORT

As a measure to overcome the shortage of motor vehicles which
existed throughout the first ten months of the year and also as an
anti-inflationary measure, the import of passenger cars and trucks
from the U.S.A. and Canada was permitted freely between Septem-
ber and December, subject to guarantee that shipment would be
effected by the 31st December. Vehicles of soft currency origin, the
majority of which were from the U.K., commenced to arrive in
large numbers towards the end of the year and by the 31st December
a sufficient number of passenger cars had arrived in the Colony to
satisfy immediate demands, with the result that the price of second-
hand vehicles, which had risen to abnormal heights, dropped to a
reasonable level.

BUILDING MATERIALS

It was decided in June to control the import and distribution of
certain scarce building materials in order to ensure that they reached
consumers instead of going to the 'black market'. This proved

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 57

successful, but in December, when larger supplies were coming
forward, it was possible to suspend this control of distribution.
While the scheme was in force, its effects were watched carefully
by a Board composed of persons interested as importers and con-
sumers of building materials.

TRADE WITH INDONESIA

Singapore trade with Indonesia, as the following figures show,
was double that of 1950, but the peak was reached in April 1951,
and trade thereafter declined. This was due mainly to the lower

price of rubber.
(Millions of Malayan Dollars)

— Imports Exports
1950 630.8 229.2
1951 1,231.4 459.1

TRADE WITH JAPAN

Under the terms of the trade agreement covering trade between
the Sterling Area and Japan for the fiscal year ending on the 30th
June, 1951, import quotas were distributed to Singapore merchants
to the value of over 138 million Malayan dollars. A new trade agree-
ment was not signed until 31st August, 1951, but, in anticipation of
the omission of the sterling convertibility clause from the new Pay-
ments Agreement, the system of quota imports from Japan was
discontinued from July 1951, and a more liberal policy adopted.
A list of permitted imports was published and import licences were
granted freely.

FOODSTUFFS

Certain foodstuffs of which there was a world shortage remained
under control and were imported under the quota system. In addi-
tion to such imports, it was possible during the year to grant licences
for the importation of certain quantities of butter outside the quota
and of wheat flour outside the International Wheat Agreement.
The Government continued to procure sugar and rice, but certain
grades of rice were licensed for importation by commercial interests
from approved sources.

58 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

IMPORT AND EXPORT CONTROL

Throughout the year, periodical meetings of the Controllers of
Imports and Exports and Members of the Economic Secretariats
in each territory were held to review import and export policy which
is common to both territories. The policy governing the import of
hard currency goods is in the main confined to the question whether
such goods are available from soft currency sources at comparable
prices. As the major commercial houses situated in Singapore are
in very close touch with their agents throughout the world, assess-
ments of the current and forward supply position of most commo-
dities was facilitated by the advice given by their members. Advice
concerning supply of goods from the United Kingdom is available
from the office of the United Kingdom Trade Commissioner with
whom close liaison is maintained. Other sources from which the
Government is able to obtain advice on matters affecting the trade
of the Colony are the Chambers of Commerce and the various
organisations set up by merchants interested in specific industries
or groups of commodities.

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VII

Production

— — M

INGAPORE'S industrial capacity increased further but not to the
S extent considered desirable. The growing of fruit and vegetables
by small-holders increased and farmers were encouraged to combine
poultry-rearing with fruit-growing in areas considered unsuitable
for the raising of vegetables. The fishing industry has benefited from
the introduction of outboard engines for small fishing craft which
enables fishermen to go further afield to more productive waters.
Additional outside sources of log supplies were tapped, providing,
in the main, materials for the new plywood factory which was
opened in 1951.

AGRICULTURE

The most important crops continue to be mixed fruit and vege-
tables, despite the slightly greater acreages under both rubber and
coconuts. There are also some small plantations of pineapples,
tobacco and spices.

Areas under rubber and coconuts vary from large plantations to
small-holdings; fruit and vegetable cultivation, however, is confined
to small-holdings of half to three acres. Where pig-rearing is permit-
ted, it is combined with vegetable-growing. All the produce of these
holdings is consumed locally. The attraction of other occupations
continues to have some restrictive effects on the quantity of produce
grown in Singapore.

There was a decrease in the number of consignments of plants
and produce inspected prior to export, but a considerable Increase
in the number of inspections of Imported consignments.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

The work of the Veterinary Department has, as in previous years,
been mainly directed towards preventing the introduction of fresh
infectious diseases into the Colony and also towards the control of
epizootics which may occur in the Island.

60 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The island of Singapore has no natural resources and facilities
for the organisation and breeding of large animals on a great scale,
neither is it suitably equipped for research work in livestock in-
dustries. Every effort has, however, been made from the resources
avallable to increase animal production in order to meet the in-
creased demand by the local markets.

The Colony's animal population again maintained freedom from
epizootic diseases throughout 1951. This was primarily due to
strict legislation which has been imposed on the import of animals
from infected countries.

Appreciation of poultry inoculations against Ranikhet virus
disease has increased steadily since the start of the campaign in
1948, as is shown by the following figures:—

1948 1949 1950 1951
65,597 422,788 832,071 1,271,990

The vaccine is locally made and the cost of carrying out inocula-
tions of over 11 million birds in 1951 was negligible apart from the
cost of salaries and transport expenses. Inoculations are carried out
free of charge.

This inoculation campaign has considerably improved the living
normally made by farmers compared with other workers, because
it has provided them with an alternative to the production of pigs
and vegetables. Freed from the fear of the effects of Ranikhet virus
disease, some individual farmers now rear as many as 5,000 birds.

The Colony is now less dependent upon the import of eggs from
abroad, and exports daily by air and road to the urban centres in
the Federation of Malaya quantities of locally produced eggs and
poultry. The needs of the Federation can be increasingly met from
Singapore provided that feeding stuffs continue to be available.

Inoculations have been specially carried out in certain areas of
Singapore which are unsuited to green leaf vegetable cultivation in
the hope that farmers will try a combination of fruit-growing and
poultry-rearing (a practical mixed enterprise) to increase local
fruit production and reduce dependence on imported fruit.

The future programme for poultry husbandry includes attempts
to make available cheaper feeding stuffs to farmers, and plans for a
marketing scheme to encourage higher productivity. High con-
centration of poultry inevitably increases the risk of subclinical
diseases particularly Helminthiasis. ;

Pig-rearing has shown most encouraging results. During the
year, an increase of 50 per cent on the census figure of 126,066 for
1950 is recorded. Singapore is approaching the stage when it will
become self-supporting in pork; abattoir slaughter figures show

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 61

that whereas in recent years 50 per cent of the pigs slaughtered were
imported from Indonesia and South Malaya, well over 80 per cent
now come from Singapore Island; prices too have been stable which
indicates that local demand can well absorb supply at current price
levels. If the price of production could be reduced to a figure within
the reach of a larger section of the public, the local market could
probably absorb double the existing supply.

In the matter of general food supplies, the picture of the past has
in fact been one of reliance on import from nearby countries, and
little attention has been paid to local production. These countries
are now increasingly reluctant to export foodstuffs as demands from
their own people for higher living standards have to be met. This
means that less is available for supply to Singapore except at often
exorbitant prices, which are reflected in Singapore's high cost of
living.

FORESTRY

Of the many industries engaged in processing forest produce,
sawmilling maintained its position as the most important. During
the year, one old mill was reopened in March; a new one, built on
rather more up-to-date lines than most, started production in
December, bringing the total number of major and minor mills to
thirty. The large new plywood factory which was formally opened
by His Excellency the Governor in August, started production in
the latter part of the year but has not yet reached full capacity.

For all practical purposes, the forests of Singapore Island are
non-productive, and the sawmilling and other allied'industries rely
entirely on imports for their raw materials.

The supply of logs for the sawmilling industry was subject to
unusual difficulties. Apart from the normal seasonal interference
with imports during bad weather, a change in the conditions of
trading between Indonesia and Singapore caused a serious though
temporary holdup in supplies of logs until agreement on the exact
working of the new system was reached in November.

The Emergency in the Federation of Malaya continued to hamper
the full development of its resources of raw materials, but alternative
sources of log supplies were tapped, Borneo and Sarawak, the latter
providing materials mainly for the manufacture of plywood.

The total imports of saw logs into Singapore from all sources
during 1951 was 194,889 tons (of 50 cubic feet), showing an increase
of over 25 per cent on last year's imports of 153,362 tons. Supplies
of sawn timber are also imported, mainly from the Federation of
Malaya and Indonesia.

62 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Production of sawn timber, which is still capable of expansion,
was the highest since the war. Local mills produced 179,758 tons;
33,821 tons were imported. 213,579 tons of sawn Imper were
handled during the year.

Control on the export of timber continued to be T out
during 1951. Exportation of the primary hardwoods and round
logs, supplies of which are inadequate for local requirements, and
later of Kapur, a secondary hardwood, was forbidden.

A form of quantitative timber export control came into force in
May in both Singapore and the Federation of Malaya. Towards
the end of the year, however, a lessening of local demand, causing
some accumulation of stocks, together with the resumption of the
Indonesian log import trade, enabled a relaxation of the control to
be made. These measures interrupted the steady development of
the export trade which could otherwise have shown a greater in-
crease over 1950.

A new edition of the Malayan Grading Rules (Export) for rough
sawn timber came into force in May and was applied to all sub-
sequent contracts. The new rules are more precise and of wider
application. As in previous years, a high proportion of the grading
was carried out by certificated employees of the exporters and saw-
mills. This system of private grading, which is subject to a percent-
age official check, has been thoroughly tested and has proved entirely
successful.

Comparative figures for graded timber exports for the past three
years in tons of 50 cubic feet are:—

Exported to 1949 x 1950. 1951
Са ass LG E A AL OSEE БЕНИН te ыар IK UD
United Kingdom. 2| 3538. 5 18114 18804
Australia .. - 5 1,389 5219 . 13,678
New Zealand s a 8 | ie | 42
South Africa К eoo 1149 42 | 230
United States of America - | 10 | 1 | Z
Holland .. E yi 20. 249 | 319
Hong Kong | 19 34 | 43
Denmark .. T" T БА | 20 |

The post of Special Grade Timber Inspector Was created and
filled at the beginning of the year.

- — 27

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 63

FISHERIES

The demand for fresh fish in the Colony of Singapore is still
unsatisfied and has led to the employment of powered vessels in
fishing operations; existing small craft have been fitted with out-
board engines and powered vessels previously employed solely for
the carriage of fish have been used to an increasing extent in troll-
ing, long-line and purse-seine fishing.

Catches in local waters amounted to 3,872 tons or 39.2 per cent
of the total handled by the auction markets. A large percentage of
the catch came from fishing stakes. Local production is supple-
mented by imports from other areas by carrier vessels, road trans-
port and, to a small extent, by rail.

The employment of outboard engines by drift-net fishermen
enabled them to fish in relatively distant but more productive
waters, and the higher prices obtained for fish catches provided the
incentive for more intensive fishing.

The principal areas from which fish was imported are the State
of Johore and the Riouw Residency of Indonesia. Imports generally
decreased during the year. Total tonnage handled was 9,887 tons
compared with 10,179 tons in 1950.

The number of fishermen employed by the industry rose from
4,597 in 1950 to 5,072 in 1951. A further 270 persons were employed
in the erection and repair of fishing stakes or in the making and
repairing of nets. The licensed fishermen included 3,583 Chinese,
1,480 Malays and nine persons of other races.

At the end of the year 2,187 licensed fishing boats (including 174
vessels with powered inboard engines and 80 craft equipped with
outboard engines) were employed in the fishing industry.

The reorganisation of the Fisheries Department and its transfer
to a site on the sea-front permitted the centralisation of services for
the fishing industry, and has greatly facilitated the handling of
powered vessels. Closer supervision has virtually stamped out
dynamiting and other malpractices.

The establishment of a $250,000 loan fund for the encouragement
of offshore fishing and the sale by the Fisheries Department of
improved materials or scarce equipment has greatly assisted the
industry.

Money has been provided by the Colonial Development and
Welfare Fund to build a Regional Marine Research Station, on
which work is expected to start in 1952. A training centre for fisher-
men of Singapore and nearby territories may also be opened next
year.

64 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

INDUSTRIES

Industrial development in Singapore is not extensive, and apart
from the important rubber milling industry, is confined to produc-
tion of consumer goods. There are, however, two companies special-
ising in heavy engineering and a multitude of smaller companies
engaged in light engineering.

A factory for the high-speed production of metal containers was
established and a factory for the production of plywood and cane
products started operations during the year. A large modern cannery
is expected to open soon in the Colony.

! It cannot be said that there is a plentiful supply of skilled labour,
but the local population are noted for their ability to learn quickly.
There have been difficulties in obtaining adequate supplies of indus-
trial power, but it is expected that a new power station should be
in operation at the end of 1952.

Beverages

The two breweries were fully occupied, and this year produced '
293,000 more gallons of beer and stout than in 1950. Although the
cost of imported raw materials such as malt and hops increased,
the price of beer remained the same throughout the year.

There are no less than thirteen aerated water manufacturing
companies in the Colony and a new company established for the
bottling of another proprietary brand of American soft drink was
opened.

Biscuits

The post-war years have witnessed a considerable development
of local biscuit production. There are six major and more than a
dozen minor manufacturers engaged in the industry. Production in
1951 approached 18,000 tons compared with 15,000 tons produced
in 1950. These are generally packed in four gallon airtight tins to
prevent deterioration owing to the high humidity that prevails in
the Colony.

Brick Production

The demand for building materials of all types has continued in
1951. Singapore production of bricks reached 54 million during
1951, an increase of 6 million on the previous year.

Coconut Oil

Prices fluctuated roughly in the same way as the prices of copra.
Oil-millers continued to have difficulties in obtaining the necessary

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 65

supplies of copra, which must be bought in competition with copra
exported to Europe.

Commercial Gas

There are two local factories producing gases, chiefly oxygen,
dissolved acetylene and nitrous oxide. A slight price increase was
recorded on industrial oxygen, but medical oxygen prices were
reduced by 15 per cent.

Leather Footwear

Production of this commodity is confined to one major factory,
which produced about 160,000 pairs during the past year, apart
from output from local craftsmen.

Metal Boxes

The high speed manufacture of metal containers from sheet plate
was begun during the year. The factory is capable of producing
75,000,000 cans per annum, although the present volume of produc-
tion is in the region of 30,000,000 cans. These cans are at present
used solely for the packing of pineapple. The establishment of the
factory should prove beneficial to all neighbouring territories when
tinplate is available in sufficient quantity to allow exports.

Paints

The only factory producing paint in Singapore has extended its
products to include the following types of paints and varnishes.

Synthetic enamel, oil based paints, structural and industrial
finishes, aluminium paints, metal primers, zinc chromate primer,
machinery and marine paints and various varnishes and distempers.

During this year, local sales showed an increase over 1950, and
were 24 times those of 1948. Exports were increased by 15 per cent
and are now more than six times greater than 1948.

Pineapple Canning

Three pineapple canneries continued to operate in Singapore
during the year, and produced 228,825 cases of canned pineapple,
an increase of 44,000 cases over the previous year.

Remilled Rubber

There was only a slight increase in the quantity of remilled rubber,
from the 14 rubber milling concerns in the Colony, from 172,351
tons produced in 1950 to 177,800 tons. .

66 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Rubber Manufactured Goods

The main types of rubber articles manufactured in the Colony
consist of footwear, sheeting, tubing and hose and rubber compounds.

Rubber Footwear

There are three major and three minor producers of rubber foot-
wear and production increased in 1951 by almost one million pairs.
The bulk of production is of canvas shoes with rubber soles and two
and a half million pairs were made of this type.

Rubber Tubing and Hose

Production of all types, including reinforced hose in 1951 was in
the region of three quarters of a million feet.

Rubber Compounds

Rubber compounds are used almost exclusively for tyre retread-
ing and the periodic difficulty of obtaining new tyres has given
considerable fillip to this industry in 1951. Production in Singapore
in 1951 is estimated to be between 500,000 and 600,000 pounds,
and since export of compounds is prohibited, all of this has been
used in local production.

Rubber Machinery

Since the improvement in the price of rubber, there has been a
considerable demand for rolling mangles for the conversion of
coagulated latex into sheet rubber.

Soap Production

Local soap produced is mainly of the laundry variety, of which a
fair percentage is for export to neighbouring territories. Production
amounted to 261,198 hundredweights and shows a slight increase on
the previous year's figure of 247,989 hundredweights.

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VIII

Social Services

A—EDUCATION

HE EDUCATION System administered by the Department of Educa-

tion includes all Government schools, Government Aided English
schools, and all registered schools, aided or private. Those financed
wholly by Government in 1951 comprised 60 English schools in 38
buildings, 43 Malay schools in 31 buildings and one Junior Technical
School. The financial aid given to non-Government schools varies
within wide limits, and is very extensive. There are in fact very few
schools in which either the management or the pupils do not receive
assistance; those in which the management does not receive help
are, almost without exception, proprietary schools run on a profit-
making basis. The assistance given to Aided English schools, and
to Indian schools, is approximately equal to the running expenses
of the schools, while Aided Chinese schools receive a capitation
grant which varies according to the grading and standard reached.
Grants for all grades were doubled during the year; in addition a
grant sufficient to cover the salaries of the teachers of English is
paid to all registered Chinese schools. The system of free, or sub-
sidised, Primary Education, which is applied to all registered schools
except those for European children only, reached its third year of
operation; under it those pupils born in Malaya and of the correct
ages for their standards have their fees remitted in Government
schools, and in other schools are given a subsidy equal to the fee
charged in Government schools.

The Director of Education is assisted by a staff of administrative,
inspecting and clerical officers, by the Singapore Education Com-
mittee, the Education Finance Board, and various advisory com-
mittees for specific purposes. The Singapore Education Committee
and the Education Finance Board are statutory bodies, the former
being a consultative and advisory committee on matters of policy

68 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

ENROLMENT IN SCHOOLS AND OTHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, 1951

Number of Pupils

Percent-
Medium of Instruction лана неке = = age ot
Total

Boys Girls Total

———— —"nnhDQ . — q T_Hz. | ———— oo M — | ————í —— A.

A. Schools Maintained or Aided

from Public Funds
English Зи .. | 100 30,660 | 17,653 | 48,313 ! 46.5
Chinese 2s 2s; 80 30,258 | 15,284 | 45,542 | 43.8
Malay Ж 42 43 5,559| 2,946 | 8,505 8.2
Tamil js is 20 566 706 1,272 1.2
Junior Technical Schools .. 2 268 268 3
Total .. | 245 67,311 | 36,589 |103,900

a | J. —MM | ——r T | — | аи

B. Private Schools |
English ба - 39 4,309 2,202 6,711 18.1
Chinese Р Ri 208 22,485

Total .. 247 26,994

10,150 | 37,144

Total Registered Schools .. 492 94,305 | 46,739 | 141,044

1,762 7,144

—T: ——"—0E. — | a e

Other Registered Institutions 32 5,982

Total Registered Institutions | 524 100,287

48,501 | 148,788

Schools not Registered or
Exempt from inspection

Chinese Е Ln 5 942 | 397 | 1,39
дабі " " 6 621| 326] 947
Total ..| n 1,563 | 723 | 2286 |

— ...... | —. |S | — ss MT. | си

Grand Total .. | 535 101,850 | 49,224 | 151,074
. |

Figures do not include students in the University, the Teachers' Training
College, or classes run by the Adult Education Council.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 69

and administration, and the latter a body supervising the receipts,
estimates and expenditure on all financial matters except those of
personal emoluments of Government officers, and 08 Works
expenditure.

Receipts consist of the proceeds of an Education rate, aid a dona-
tion from Government, the respective amounts in 1951 being
$812,939.74 and $6,360,726.28. In addition Government provides
the salaries of the officers employed in the department, and the cost
of Government schools. The total official cost of education in 1951,
including capital costs on schools but excluding charges in respect
of living quarters, was $19,026,000 (estimated); the corresponding
figures in 1949 and 1950 were $6,817,000 and $11,230,000.

DEVELOPMENT

The momentum of the Ten Year Education Plan and Five Year
Supplementary Plan decreased somewhat in 1951, the chief reason
being the very great increase in building costs which made it neces-
sary to reject for some months the tenders received. The building
programme approved for 1951 consisted of 18 supplementary schools
and 5 ten-year plan schools; there were in addition portions of pro-
grammes approved for previous years which had not been com-
pleted. The number of complete school buildings actually erected
during the year was 11, made up of 6 supplementary schools and 1
ten-year plan school from the 1951 programme, and 4 schools from
previously approved programmes. In addition 5 supplementary
schools and 1 ten-year plan school were under construction at the
end of the year. Of the programmes approved up to and including
1951, 7 supplementary schools and 4 ten-year plan schools had not
been started by the end of December.

These figures relate to Government schools only. The Aided
English schools, which form an intrinsic and valuable part of the
education system, also increased their accommodation very con-
siderably, either by erecting new schools or by building extensions.
Such projects are aided by Government to the extent of 50 per cent,
of approved cost. Several private school buildings were also erected,
some with, some without Government assistance.

The enrolment in all registered schools, primary and secondary,
was 141,044, this being an increase of about 10,000 over the 1950
figure. Some details are given in the table on page 68, but the figures
given there do not include undergraduates at the University of
Malaya, teachers under training at the Teachers' Training College,
Singapore, the Sultan Idris Training College, Tanjong Malim and
the Malay Women's Training College, Malacca, students in training

70 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

at the Technical College, Kuala Lumpur, and the College of Agri-
culture, Serdang, or those enrolled in classes conducted by the Adult
Education Council. The total undergoing instruction from all sour-
ces, excluding those in schools conducted by H. M. Forces, was
158,797, an increase of some 14,000 over the total in 1950.

GENERAL

It was possible to see the first results of the expansion which was
started in 1950. The new schools in the more closely populated areas
were full from the moment they opened their doors, and they settled
down quickly under the difficulties with which they were faced.
Chief among these difficulties was the very small number of trained
teachers which could be spared for these schools; the few carried on
amazingly well, not only looking after their own classes but helping
the comparatively raw probationers who were in charge of the other
classes. In the rural and more sparsely populated areas development
was at a much slower rate, but the need for the schools was shown
clearly by the fact that the enrolments in the lower classes were up
to standard. There seems to be no doubt that all schools will grow
to full enrolment within a few years, and that the number of schools
already provided is but a fraction of the number needed in Singa-
pore. The stumbling blocks to future expansion appear to be the
provision of sites, teachers, and buildings, in that order. Vacant land
in the city area is at a premium and great difficulty is being experi-
enced in finding sites which are not only within reasonable reach of
the children, but are also large enough to provide playing fields and .
are situated away from main traffic routes.

TECHNICAL EDUCATION

The numbers attending the Government Junior Technical School,
and the evening classes in technical subjects remained the same as in
1950, 169 and 700 respectively. No increase was possible in the space
available. À new type of course, aimed at continuing the academic
education of pupils who have finished the Primary English school
course, and at the same time giving them practical and theoretical
knowledge of several branches of technical training, was instituted
In 1951. It is hoped that, as these pupils will enter and leave the
Junior Technical School at a much earlier age than has hitherto
been the case, they will be absorbed more satisfactorily in appren-
ticeship schemes in the industries of Singapore.

A second technical school, run by a Mission authority in a rural
area, was admitted into the fully aided system of English schools.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 ` 71

FURTHER EDUCATION

The total number of undergraduates in the University of Malaya
at the end of 1951 was 837, of whom 335 (251 men, 84 women) came
from Singapore. They were subdivided in the various faculties as
follows:—

Arts 54 € .. 109
Science T T wi 9
Medicine T is .. 129
Dentistry Т m" .. 28
Pharmacy .. 14

Thirty-three students, dic had = awarded Government scho-
larships or other forms of training facilities, left Singapore for
further studies abroad. Fifteen holders of such scholarships returned
to Singapore during the year. Three members of the Department of
Education were awarded scholarships tenable at the University of
Malaya, and two others were awarded scholarships tenable overseas.
One member was awarded a fellowship offered by the Government
of Australia.

ADULT EDUCATION

The Council for Adult Education, the inauguration of which was
referred tó in the 1950 edition of this Report, was ready to start
work at the beginning of the year. Development was swift, and by
the end of 1951 the Council had taken under its wing most of the
organisations already in being, and had started very many centres
on its own initiative. The target the Council set itself for 1951 was
150 classes in literacy; this was reached by September, and by De- ,
cember the Council was in control, actual or supervisory, of 188
classes in literacy and 4 groups in Adult Education proper. The
number of adults affected by these activities was approximately
6,500 and the grants paid by Government amounted to $173,000.

The Council does not deal with technical or vocational education;
as far as was possible this was catered for by means of evening
classes, those already mentioned in the Junior Technical School
being supplemented by classes in commercial subjects. These are
run by various agencies, Government and private.

TEACHER TRAINING

The Teachers’ Training College, which was opened in March
1950, expanded so fast that it overflowed its own accommodation
and had to conduct many of its classes in other buildings. An ex-
periment was started in September by the posting of six Normal
Class students to the Junior Technical School. It is hoped that these

72 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

will become the nucleus of a group of dual purpose teachers equipped
to teach in both academic and technical education in future Junior
Technical Schools, and secondary modern schools. In all 1,528
teachers, 549 more than in 1950, were in training as follows:—

A. In Singapore
Men Women Total
(i) Teachers’ Training сое
Certificate Course 67 59 126

Normal Classes .. 692 281 973

—

759 340 1,099

(ü) English Teachers under
training in Private and

Vernacular Schools .. 56 67 123

(iii) Probationers under gigs:
in Malay Schools В 96 52 148

(iv) Chinese Teachers' Training
Classes s | 55 63 118
Total .. "966 522 1,488

In addition there were 12 students (three men and ппе women)
studying for the post graduate Diploma in Education in the Univer-
sity of Malaya.

B. In the Federation of Malaya
Men Women Total

Sultan Idris Training College .. 21 ай 21
Malay Women's Training College 7 7
Total .. 21 7 28

The teaching of Science, particularly in Girls’ schools, is still in
an unsatisfactory position, although existing facilities are used to
the fullest capacity. New buildings erected by two aided school
authorities included space for the teaching of General Science, but
the subject had not yet become a regular part of the curriculum.
A Science wing was added to one Government boys school, and
plans are in hand for providing four others with Science blocks.

Post School Certificate classes were maintained in several schools,
and with all universities, including the University of Malaya, in-
sisting on such work before matriculation, it seemed certain that this
development would become a permanent part of the Educational
system. The Cambridge Overseas Higher School Certificate was held
in Singapore for the first time in 1951, and 38 candidates entered for
it. 31 sat for the examination.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 73

The intrusion of political indoctrination in some Chinese schools,
which was a rather prominent feature during 1950, appeared to have
lost ground, and apart from a few isolated incidents, there was little
overt trouble. School organisers and committees showed a very
commendable willingness to co-operate with the Department in the
measures deemed necessary, and also to discuss their problems and
difficulties. The appointment of a liaison officer during the year was
a great help in this direction.

The Education Week which appealed so strongly to the imagi-
nation of the population in 1950 was repeated in 1951 and was again
very successful.

B—MEDICAL

The health picture for Singapore continued the striking improve-
ment which has been a feature of the post-war years. The death rate
was only 11.88 and the infant mortality rate 75.15.

Perhaps the most important feature of the year, however, was
that the Ten Year Medical Plan approved in 1948 but delayed by
various causes, had at last got under way. The second stage of the
Leper Settlement (Trafalgar Home) Scheme and the new Base
Medical Store were nearing completion by the end of the year. The
first two Maternity and Child Welfare Clinics of the sixteen to be
built, were also under construction, and in December His Excellency
the Governor laid the foundation stone of the new Out-patient
Department and Nurses Home at the General Hospital. The outlook
on the constructional side was thus more encouraging, although
accommodation for staff will remain a serious problem for some
time to come and it must be remembered that while the Ten Year
Plan seeks to provide medical facilities adequate for a population of
one million, the Colony's total has already passed that mark.

As regards personnel, there was an increase in the number of
newly qualified doctors, but it will not be until June 1952, when
the first sixty students who commenced their training after the war
will sit for their Finals, that really satisfactory numbers will begin
to come forward from the University. The major difficulty, however,
continued to be the lack of sufficiently experienced officers without
whom it is impossible to deal satisfactorily with the multifarious
duties which face the Medical Department in addition to running
the Hospitals.

A minor recruiting campaign for nurses at the end of the year
was surprisingly successful, and the number accepted was only
limited by the dearth of accommodation. This campaign augured

74 |». COLONY OF SINGAPORE

well for recruitment to be undertaken in 1952 if the new accommo-
dation is by then ready. The whole question of providing and main-
taining adequate nursing staff rests upon the building of nurses'
quarters and this in turn will enable the ward and areas which should
be used as wards but are now temporarily housing staff to be made
available for patients. It will also be possible to take advantage of
the willingness of the Order of the Franciscan Sisters of the Divine
Motherhood to accept responsibility for an increased proportion of
the tuberculosis nursing, and to stimulate the recruitment of assist-
ant nurses.

Out-patient and in-patient accommodation, the same as it was
fifteen years ago, was stretched by improvisation beyond reasonable
limits to meet the immense demand. Hospital out-patient attendances
were 501,529 compared with less than 90,000 in 1938. In-patients
dealt with at the General, Kandang Kerbau (Women's Diseases)
and the Venereal Diseases Hospitals (the only acute hospitals, ex-
cluding those for tuberculosis) were 38,497 contrasting with about
25,000 in 1938.

A statutory Nursing Board was established in April. The consti-
tution of the Board is based on that of the Nursing Council for
England and Wales and the Colony's training scheme was accepted
by the latter body as suitable for reciprocity, arrangements for which
were in hand.

Voluntary organizations and advisory committees continued to
give invaluable assistance. Among these were the Ladies Diversional
Therapy Unit working among the tuberculosis patients at Tan Tock
Seng Hospital and the Children's Orthopaedic Hospital, the Leper
Welfare Committee, the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association,
the Rotary Club of Singapore, the St. John Ambulance Association
and Brigade and the Singapore branch of the British Red Cross
Society. Other voluntary committees included the Blood Trans-
fusion Service Committee, an essential part of this Service, the Nut-
rition Council, the Public Health Conference, the Venereal Disease
Committee and the U.N.I.C.E.F. Committee which also co-ordi-
nated certain of the activities of the Government and the World
Health Organization, mainly in the public health field. In this con-
nection, efforts were being made with the assistance of the Secre-
tariat for Chinese Affairs to encourage the various community or-
ganisations to provide accommodation for the nursing of the chronic
sick, particularly Chinese suffering from tuberculosis.

The Tuberculosis Domiciliary Relief Scheme continued to ex-
pand under the auspices of the Department of Social Welfare and

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 75

a Treatment advisory Committee. The Almoner's division was also
enlarged but there is immense scope for additional work in this field
when the staff are available.

Particular attention was given during the year to the problems of
acute and anterior poliomyelitis and of mental disease. The former
must now be regarded as a true endemic disease with potential epi-
demic explosions. Mental disease is steadily becoming one of the
major problems and considerable steps forward in improved treat-
ment and accommodation have been made in the years since the
war. Real advance in both cases must, however, wait upon the pro-
vision under the Medical Plan of the 200 bed children's block and
the 2,000 bed mental ћозрнаћзерага(ед from the mental institution.

Attention was also given to the problems of Civil Medical Defence
and several special committees were appointed to consider the vari-
ous aspects, including emergency schemes, recruitment and the
creation of a stock pile of essential medical equipment.

The following is a brief record of the main divisions of the Medical
Service:—

RURAL MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE

A start was made on the construction of two new Infant Welfare
and Maternity Centres of advanced design with staff quarters in-
corporated. Fourteen more centres will be built under the Medical
Plan to replace or supplement the existing thirteen residential and
twenty-five visiting clinics, many of which are not really suited to
their purpose. The clinics are supplemented by four travelling motor
dispensaries and one launch serving the outlying islands on which
there are situated two residential and seven visiting clinics. Attend-
ances totalled 175,410 and homes visited numbered 95,406 as com-
pared with 182,123 and 75,935 respectively in 1950. The Rural Health
staff attended 7,708 confinements out of a total of 13,337 births
reported.

FLOATING AND RURAL TRAVELLING DISPENSARIES

In addition to Maternity and Child Welfare work, the travelling
dispensaries, each under the charge of a Hospital Assistant, dealt
with 44,224 attendances of which 25,150 were new cases. The value
of the floating dispensary in particular was demonstrated by the
great improvement in the general health of the islands. Every island
was visited once a week with the exception of two in the Straits of
Johore which received monthly visits.

76 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

SCHOOL MEDICAL SERVICE

The improvements observed in the descending morbidity and
general mortality rates were also reflected in the physical health of
the 62,548 children examined. Vision, on the whole, was good and
skin conditions showed an improvement over previous years. Routine
worm treatment continued to be carried out by school health nurses
and by the staff of travelling dispensaries. The special school travel-
ling dispensary treated 8,104 children.

Particular attention was paid to tuberculosis. Radiography of
children and teachers continued with the assistance of the Singapore
Anti-Tuberculosis Association. All classroom contacts were inves-
tigated and the work executed compared favourably with that of the
previous year. Of the 5,424 children X-rayed, 2.3 per cent showed
active primary complex and 1.2 per cent had the adult type. The
tuberculosis domiciliary feeding scheme continued throughout the
year. Each child received a complete examination every three weeks
and 49 per cent showed an increase in weight.

In June, U.N.I.C.E.F. and the World Health Organisation ini-
tiated a campaign of B.C.G. inoculation by a team under Dr. Arne
Buus-Hansen. In a period of four months the team trained a number
of local teams and tested and inoculated some 30,000 children and
mothers. At the end of this period Government assumed responsi-
bility for continuing the campaign.

SCHOOL DENTAL SERVICE

An increase in the number of dental chairs from two to four en-
abled this Service, which was started in 1949, to be doubled in 1951,
and 7,910 children were examined. The ultimate aim is to give treat-
ment to all school children but the scheme is at present limited to
the examination and treatment of 8,000 students selected from
Government and Government-aided schools. It was commonly
found that children attending the clinic for the first time showed
evidence of gross dental neglect and required more treatment than
it was possible to give during the first year.

AIR AND PORT HEALTH

The steady increase in the volume of air traffic arriving in Singa-
pore continued throughout the year. Aircraft arriving from infected
or suspected ports totalled 2,023. 56,530 crew and passengers were
inspected by two full-time medical officers, and 234 passengers who
arrived without valid certificates of admission were put on surveil-
lance.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 71

The number of ship inspections at the quarantine anchorage also
exceeded those of 1950 but there was little increase in the number of
passengers, due mainly to reduced communication with China.
In all 1,979 ships were cleared, and 137,571 passengers were in-
spected by a total of two officers.

The importance of constant vigilance, even in the case of ships
arriving from infection-free ports, was illustrated by the following
incident. Despite the fact that the Master, surgeon and chin-chew
of a vessel arriving from Hong Kong, at that time believed to be a
*clean port', had declared that there was no infection on board,
the Port Health Officer discovered one case of small-pox, two of
measles and three cases of chicken pox. Upon investigation, it was
found that the passenger with small-pox had come from Swatow, an
infected port, and had embarked from another vessel in the roads of
Hong Kong. As a result of the discovery, Hong Kong and the entire
China coast were gazetted as infected places on account of small-
pox.

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Again none of the major infectious diseases occurred in Singa-
pore. The only unusual manifestations were an outbreak of typhoid
towards the end of the year when 30 cases were reported following
a dinner, and a considerable increase in the number of diphtheria
admissions. No carrier or other specific source was confirmed in
regard to the former. The increase in diphtheria mostly affected pre-
school age children and indicated the necessity for more concen-
trated immunisation in the infant welfare clinics. 473 cases of diph-
theria were reported for the Colony as a whole, with 133 typhoid,
237 leprosy, 81 acute anterior poliomyelitis and 8 tropical typhus
cases. The number of deaths respectively were 101 diphtheria, 19
typhoid, 2 leprosy, 9 acute anterior poliomyelitis. No deaths were
reported in respect of tropical typhus.

RURAL ANTI-MALARIAL SCHEME

One new permanent work was executed at Pulau Semakau where
the subsoil drainage scheme had the effects of also draining the
school playing field, and producing a water supply for the inhabi-
tants. Brush oiling was continued as the normal method of tem-
porary control. In two districts D.D.T. in oil was employed and the
comparatively new method of D.D.T. bricks in sawdust was em-
ployed successfully to deal with one heavy outbreak of anopheles
sundaicus. All the 36 malaria cases reported in the rural area were
either contracted by woodcutters while working in South Johore or
were relapses.

78 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

RURAL WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION

Some progress was made in the extension of water mains to the
rural area and a considerable number of new standpipes were in-
stalled. Efforts were made to improve water supplies on the islands,
on most of which the wells are liable to dry up between May and
July.

The cost of septic tanks discourages their installation in the rural
area, and nightsoil removal by contract is the normal method of
sewage disposal. Refuse collection is also carried out by contract for
disposal by incineration, controlled tipping or composting. Public
demand for compost was rising steadily.

TUBERCULOSIS

Pulmonary tuberculosis continued to be the disease of major im-
-portance and concern to the public although the only reliable index
of incidence—the number of deaths—is now merely 48 as compared
with a 1939/1941 average of 100. The total number of deaths from
this disease recorded over recent years is as follows:—

Rate per

Million
1939/1941 average .. .. 2,288
1947 га Ji .. 1,550
1949 T Sa .. 1,315
1950 ек bi .. 1,193
1951 is . 1,096

Tan Tock Seng Hospital with its free clinic presented by the Rotary
Club of Singapore, continued to be the principal centre for the hos-
pitalisation and outdoor clinic treatment of cases of pulmonary
tuberculosis. The bed provision for such cases remained at some 400.
During 1951 the number of new adult out-patients was 2,382. The
total number of tuberculosis in-patients was 1,430 with 171 deaths.

The General Hospital also continued to deal with a certain number
of very acute cases of tuberculosis either from the emergency angle,
or as a discovery in the course of other investigations. Such condi-
tions as tuberculous meningitis are mainly dealt with at this hospital.
During 1951, 173 such cases were treated with 141 deaths. This high
death rate was due largely to the arrival of many moribund cases for
whom little could be done and partly because, for reasons not fully
understood, Asian children appear to do less well than is the general
' experience in Europe with this type of case. In addition the Children's
Orthopaedic Hospital of 70 beds treated a number of cases of bone
and joint tuberculosis.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 79

The Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association's out-patient and .
treatment centre operated at an increasing tempo while the out-
patient clinic at Tan Tock Seng Hospital covered a record year.
The out-patient clinic accommodation provided at this hospital in
1949 was thought at the time to be sufficient until the Medical Plan
advanced but it is now stretched to the limit. During the year, the
foundation stone of the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association's
new clinic was laid. This clinic will provide a new and very valuable
extension to out-patients facilities in Singapore.

A splendid gift by Mr. Lee Kong Chian of buildings and grounds
at Tanjong Balai on the west coast of the Island was accepted by
Government towards the end of the year as the basis for the 300 bed
sanatorium envisaged under the Medical Plan. It is hoped to estab-
lish 100 beds here during 1952 with the help of the Franciscan
Sisters of the Divine Motherhood.

VENEREAL DISEASE

The campaign against venereal disease initiated in 1945 was
maintained by the use of a special 70 bed hospital with male and
female clinics attached, and a separate out-patient clinic in the dock
area. The evening clinics for men established during 1949 continued,
and a Social Hygiene travelling dispensary was introduced in the
latter part of 1950. This was integrated with the ante-natal clinics of
the Rural Health Service. The van is fully equipped with the neces-
sary materials required for examination, diagnosis and treatment of
patients suffering from venereal disease.

The increase in the number of out-patient attendances rose from
72,913 in 1948 to 105,592 in 1950 and 124,830 in 1951—an all time
record—and is some criterion of the success of the methods em-
ployed. Of these, 36,279 were females and 88,551 were males. New
cases numbered 15,958 (4,794 women) as compared with 12,986
(3,047 women) in 1948. In-patients totalled 2,633, an increase on any
previous year.

Systematic ante-natal blood tests were introduced in the suburban
clinics to reduce the incidence of congenital syphilis. Facilities were
also provided in the Social Hygiene Hospital for daily treatment of .
dermatological complaints by V.D. patients, not only to gain the
further confidence of the poorer classes but also to save the uneco-
nomic loss and waste of time involved in travelling to different places
for treatment. |

80 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

LEPROSY

The number of new cases reporting for treatment continued to
increase and 646 lepers were resident in the Trafalgar Home at the
end of the year. 41 additional two-bedroomed huts were under con-
struction, but these will not be adequate to house all Singapore
patients, 355 of whom are under treatment in the Federation of
Malaya.

Treatment with sulphone in oil by injection is now the method of
choice, but sulphetrone in water has also proved effective. Sixty
cases were released as non-infectious during the year and the number
cured is expected to rise steadily from year to year. Experiments in
the use of thiosemicarbozones were carried out with some good re-
sults but the drugs proved more toxic than the original description
suggested.

- HOSPITALISATION

The Medical Plan envisages a doubling of the bed strength of the
various hospitals of the Colony with an additional sanatorium to
bring the tuberculosis beds to 1,100, and a mental defective home to
deal with a problem which so far has not been tackled. Little change
in the total number of beds in use occurred during the year except in
the children's division and at the mental and leper institutions,
owing to the fact that all available space had to be turned over to
accommodation for additional nurses and housemen.

The available bed strength was as follows:—General Hospital—.
700, maternity and women's diseases institution—240, tuberculosis
and chronic hospital—550, venereal disease hospital—70, mental
hospital—1,800 (an increase of 200 on the previous year), ortho-
paedic institution—70, leper home—646, infectious diseases hospital
--250 and prisons division—160. While the present bed strength now
corresponds to the pre-war strength, any comparison ceased there.
During 1951 the hospital out-patient departments dealt with 501,529
attendances as compared with 87,447 in 1938 and 423,377 in 1950.
The turn-over in all the institutions was well in excess of any pre-
war returns, the General Hospital, the Kandang Kerbau (Women's
Diseases) and Venereal Disease Hospitals listing 38,497 in-patients
as compared with 35,492 in 1950 and 25,913 in 1938. All 1951 figures
available were records despite the shortage of accommodation and
the staffing difficulties encountered. Well over 60 per cent of all de-
liveries in the Colony are now dealt with in hospital and in the City
and rural Government clinics. The Maternity Division with its 200
beds dealt with 15,338 admissions as compared with 14,197 in 1950
and 5,551 in 1938.

Л
` *

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 81

The new eye centre at the General Hospital is the most up-to-date
in South-East Asia.

Unfortunately the number of cases dealt with in the mental and
leper institutions continued its steady increase. The present ac-
commodation at the Mental Hospital permits of some 200 more male
cases, the female side being overcrowded already. The present rate
of increase seems to be 150 /200 mental cases per year. The number
of lepers accommodated increased by 96 over the period in spite of
60 discharges.

The Surgical Physiotherapy section dealt with 1,571 cases during
the year as against 1,458 in 1950. The Almoner's Division attempted
to cover all the main hospitals of the city although only three al-
moners were available. Although these are still newly developing
organisations, the steady increase in the number of post-polio cases
needing attention alone stressed their outstanding importance in
any modern hospital organisation.

The Radiological division reached the total of 58,000 cases as
compared with 52,353 in 1950 and 6,000 in 1938.

The Blood Transfusion organisation maintained its donor service
with 3,695 transfusions in 1951 as compared with 3,721 in 1950.
The Armed Services again gave considerable support as did the
Police Training School and the Customs Department. The number
of individual donors increased but could be much greater.

The Ladies Voluntary Diversional Therapy Unit was a continued
and considerable success. It supplies an essential feature of the hos-
pital services.

NUTRITION

The Singapore Advisory Council on Nutrition discussed the pro-
blem of food supplies in relation to dietary habits and their effect
on the health of the communities in the Colony. The Council made
recommendations to Government regarding measures which were
considered important for future planning. The lower paid workers
with large dependent families may be unable to obtain the minimum
adequate nutritional needs if conditions of high population level
and high prices prevail. Three methods of assistance were suggested
to meet this situation, an alteration in dietary pattern, an improve-
ment in the nutritional value of the diet, and an increase in supple-
mentary feeding. The Council advised that publicity should be
directed towards changing the dietary habits by increasing the con-
sumption of cheap available foods of high nutritional value and
that measures be taken to reduce the margin between landed cost
of imported food and the retail prices.

82 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Since 1950, highly milled rice has been imported, thereby de-
creasing the intake of Vitamin ВІ. A deterioration in health is likely
to occur particularly in the lower income groups in the event of
lowered prosperity or other emergency. The Council considered it
desirable to improve the nutritive value of rice and recommended
that suitable plant and materials should be purchased for the large
scale enrichment of rice and other staple foodstuffs. In order to
protect the public regarding claims for enrichment, the Council
submitted standards for enrichment of wheat bread and flour to be
incorporated in the regulations appertaining to the Sale of Food
and Drugs Ordinance.

The Department of Social Welfare consulted the Council with
regard to a change in the meal supplied in the Child Feeding Scheme.
The Council recommended a change in the milk-cocoa drink by
replacing the cocoa with a cheaper flavouring substance and that
the money thus saved be used to provide a larger bun. The modified
meal consists of a piece of fruit, a drink made from skimmed milk
with added Vitamin A and a flavouring substance such as weak
coffee, and a 3 oz. bun enriched with thiamin, riboflavin and iron
at the level formerly included in the 2 oz. bun.

The Division of Applied Nutrition, University of Malaya under-
took a study of the growth rate of 250 Chinese and Indian infants
living in the urban area of Singapore, and the report of this study
was being prepared for publication.

Some publicity was given during the year to certain cases of star-
vation which were admitted to the General Hospital. All those in-
vestigated by the Council showed some specific family disorder or
peculiar health condition which had no direct bearing on the nutri-
tional state of the community.

STAFF WELFARE

The well being of the institutional staff of the Department con-
tinued to be the subject of active concern. The Singapore Medical
Services Union, representing Hospital Assistants, Nurses, Labora-
tory Assistants, and Sanitary Inspectors, took part in one meeting
of the Department's Interim Joint Council and in various meetings
with the Medical Directorate. Meetings of the Nurses’ Representa-
tive Council continued to be held between the various grades of
Nurses and the Principal Matron, matrons and sisters, when pro-
blems peculiar to the female nursing staff were discussed in a freer
atmosphere than would have been possible in the more formal

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 83

meetings of the Interim Joint Council. The Singapore Medical
Labour Union, representing the large body of hospital servants,
met Secretariat and Department representatives on a number of
occasions under the chairmanship of the Chief Personnel and Wel-
fare Officer of the Labour Department to discuss conditions of
service and pay.

In the Health Division, membership of the Labourers Co-operative
Society increased from 393 to 420 and total investments at the end
of the year amounted to $31,500.

C—TOWN PLANNING AND HOUSING

PLANNING

In 1951, as in the previous 24 years of the life of the Singapore
Improvement Trust, planning was restricted by the scope of the
Singapore Improvement Ordinance (Chap. 134), and the Improve-
ment Schemes and Plans, although important in themselves, re-
mained somewhat piecemeal and unrelated owing to the absence of
a Master Plan.

One of the first tasks to which the Colony's Planning Adviser,
Sir George L. Pepler, C.B., P.P.T.P.L, F.R.I.C.S., addressed himself
upon his first visit to Singapore in December 1950 /January 1951,
was the examination of the Singapore Development Bill, 1949, on
which action had been withheld pending his appointment. Sir George
was in general agreement with the provisions of the Bill, which was
based to a large extent upon the United Kingdom Town and Country
Planning Act, 1947. It was considered inadvisable, however, to pro-
ceed with this legislation which sought, inter alia, to establish a
separate development authority, pending the recommendations of
Dr. L. C. Hill, с.в.Е., on the reform of local government in the Colony
to which reference is made on p. 176 of this Report. At the same
time in order that there should be no further delay in the execution
of the preliminary steps towards co-ordinated and comprehensive
town and country planning, Sir George's advice was sought on the
minimum essential powers necessary to execute a diagnostic survey
and the preparation of a Master Plan for the Island. Consequent
upon his advice, approval was given for the recruitment of the re-
quired staff and the powers were conveyed by the enactment on
18th December, of the Singapore Improvement (Amendment No. 2)
Ordinance, 1951.

84 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The Planning Adviser has commented in connection with this
legislation, as follows:—

Progress in ‘town and country planning’ during the year mainly comprised
work preliminary to the essential first step in legislation and the appointment
of the team to prepare the Diagnostic Survey and Master Plan for the
Colony. The Bill amending the Singapore Improvement Ordinance (Cap.
134) was passed on the 18th December. It placed upon the Singapore Im-
provement Trust, the duty to carry out a diagnostic survey and prepare a
Master Plan and submit it to the Government for approval, within three
years from Ist January, 1952. The Master Plan is to indicate ‘the manner in
which it proposes that the land in the Colony should be used’.

Land is the ultimate platform of all human activity and is limited in
amount. It is, therefore, obvious that every piece of it should be put to its
appropriate use, in the interest of the community, whether for housing,
industry, food production, water supply, defence, recreation, or transport,
etc. The allocation of appropriate places for each of these functions, some
of which are not infrequently found to be competitors for the same piece of
land, linked by a convenient system of communications, is the main function
of town and country planning. The objects of the diagnostic survey is to
ensure that the plan is based upon a thorough understanding of the qualities
and potentialities of the land and of the needs of its users. The essence of
the matter is to secure the right use of land—a matter of vital importance
to inhabitants of an Island six times more densely populated than England,
which is described in the Report of the 1951 Census as one of the most
densely populated countries in the world. Consequently, the amending
Ordinance not only required the preparation of a Master Plan, but also put
an obligation upon anyone intending to put any land or building to a new
use (other than agriculture), to obtain permission before doing so.

In the meantime, two committees were at work on studies which
should prove of considerable value to the Planning Team in their
complex task. The first was entrusted with the duty of surveying and
advising upon the overall needs of the Colony for playing fields and
recreation grounds of all kinds; the committee's comprehensive
report was published during the year and was under examination
by the local authorities, upon whom rests the responsibility for the
provision of parks and open spaces. The second committee, whose
researches were not completed, was appointed to examine existing
burial customs and the problem of the immense number of burial
grounds with which the whole island, and the city area in parti-
cular, is liberally strewn, thus sterilising large areas of land which
would be of the utmost value for housing and other development
projects.

As regards the actual planning in 1951, by far the largest amount
of work was in connection with the control of private development,
which was much in excess of any previous year. 683 layout plans
were received by the Trust and of these 458 were approved. Alto-
gether 2,181 sub-division and layout plans have been submitted and
1,320 approved as additions to the General Improvement Plan since
the war. Many schemes and plans for improvement were held in

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 85

abeyance pending the dictates of a preliminary plan which is to pre-
cede the Master Plan, while three major Improvement Schemes
planned by the Trust to commence in 1951 were held up for lack of
senior and junior staff.

The Trust checks all building plans submitted to the City Council
and Rural Board for siting and layout, and carries out the physical
setting out of all building lines in urban areas. The Trust Survey
Department, working in close co-operation with the Government
Survey Department, also acts as an information centre on the pro-
posed use and development of all land on the Island and in 1951,
in addition to answering other questions and conducting interviews
dealt with 3,258 formal queries. 2,317 copies of portions of the
General Improvement Plan were supplied to the public at cost.

The Manager of the Trust continued to act in an advisory capa-
city with regard to the layout and development of Crown lands,
including the re-development of land for which former 99 year Crown
leases had expired. The most important scheme for Crown land
prepared in 1951 was for the development of the Telok Ayer Recla-
mation and Shenton Way. The first section of Shenton Way was
completed and building plans were prepared for the Lots lying
between it and Robinson Road, in anticipation of their lease by
auction early in 1952. The plans provide for a dignified facade of 9
storey offices and flats facing the sea, to form an impressive feature
balancing, to some extent, the existing development to the east of
the Singapore River. The many important but conflicting demands
for the remainder of the Reclamation had not been reconciled by
the end of the year.

A scheme for the layout of the Esplanade prepared by the City
Council was approved for execution in 1952.

HOUSING

Public housing development in Singapore is executed by the
Singapore Improvement Trust financed by Government loans. The
two major limiting factors of labour and materials, to which detailed
reference was made in Chapter VIII of the 1950 edition of this Report,
continued to operate. The shortage of skilled labour for the building
trades was even more acute than in the previous year and interna-
tional conditions were mainly responsible for shortages of essential
materials, especially mild steel and cement. In addition, the local
supply of crushed granite was unequal to the demand. These factors,
in conjunction with the demand of the many competing schemes of

public and private development of all types, combined in the first

86 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

half of the year to cause a rise in building costs so serious that it was
clear that good value for money could not be obtained. Both the
Trust and Government accordingly found it necessary to reject
tenders received and to postpone their building programmes for
several months. In order to exert some control over the use of ma-
terials in short supply, the Control of Building Ordinance, 1951,
was enacted in May. Under this legislation the prior approval
of the Governor in Council is required before work can commence
on the construction of any building the total cost of which exceeds
$50,000. The Ordinance was introduced for a period of one year
initially but can be extended for further periods if necessary.

In the second half of the year prices dropped a little and appeared
. to be comparatively stable, which enabled the Trust to let all but
three of its housing contracts for the original 1951 programme,
estimated to cost 16 million dollars. The effect of the earlier increases,
however, was to add still further to the already serious delay in the
programmes as originally planned, and all the work completed in
1951 was in fact carried forward from the 1950 programme.

In all, 1,028 flats, 152 artisans' quarters and 124 shops were com-
pleted, with 1,582 flats, 448 artisans' quarters and 79 shops under
construction at the end of the year. The only major scheme under
the 1950 programme remaining uncompleted was the erection of
three blocks of 9 storey flats at Upper Hokkien Street; these will be
ready about the middle of 1952.

Although the amount of public housing completed and under
construction was considerably greater than at any former period
and the programme planned for 1952 envisages a further increase,
nevertheless, the ominous fact remains that the increase in popu-
lation continues to outstrip the combined output of housing, both
public and private, and the resources of the Colony which are subject
to so many other urgent and conflicting demands, are inadequate to
overcome the problem. Three aspects of the problem were under
examination during the year.

A Working Party under the Manager of the Trust made inves-
tigations into the possibilities of over-coming the shortage of skilled
labour by a system of apprenticeship and short intensive courses
in building construction. Renewed consideration was given to the
formation of a building research station in Singapore following upon
the visit and report of the United Nations Mission on Tropical
Housing, to which reference is made in last year's Report. The third
and most difficult matter was the question of subsidies. It has for
long been realised that the poorest sections of the population cannot
afford to pay the economic rent demanded by private owners. Even

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 87

$20 per month, the rent of a Trust artisan's quarters, is outside the
reach of some. At the end of the year consideration was being given
as to whether and in what form Government could render assistance
to these classes and also whether the Trust should be assisted to
reduce the rents for housing erected on expensive sites.

Another aspect of the general problem, the treatment in the city
area of the insanitary kampongs of wood and attap shacks and their
occupants, was under examination by a special committee of the
City Council.

Housing completed by private enterprise during the year was as
follows:—

City Rural

Area Area
Bungalows /Houses us .. 221 102
Shop Houses Е ха .. 198 73
Flats/Tenement Houses E .. 35 ja
Attap Houses "n 25 .. .. 266
Labourers Quarters 5 TET 23

454 464

173 and 163 housing units were completed by Government and
the City Council respectively, nearly all of which were for their
labour forces.

Coincidental with the visit of the United Nations Tropical Hous-
ing Mission and the first visit of the Planning Adviser in January,
the Improvement Trust and the Public Relations Department or-
ganised an exhibition entitled ‘A Study of the Homes of Singapore’.
The exhibition and the lectures and cinema shows on the various
aspects of housing and town and country planning attracted large
crowds, evidence of the rising public interest in the value of good
housing, and the importance of these matters to the future of Singa-
pore. |

D—SOCIAL WELFARE

Social welfare projects involving new building had perforce to
take a low priority and institutional construction envisaged in the
5-year plan was therefore well behind schedule. The emphasis in
1951 was on the consolidation and improvement of already existing
activities of the Department, and on expanding sections such as
Probation and Social Research which could widen their spheres of
action without waiting for the builders to complete their tasks.

The most important developments during the year were the cre-
ation of the Public Assistance Board, the construction of the Far
Eastern Relief Fund Farm, the extension of the probation system

88 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

to the adult courts, the start of a survey of sickness in Singapore
under the direction of the Research Section of the Department, and
the inauguration of the Singapore Joint Relief Organisation and of
the Singapore Association for the Blind, both of which are now
quite independent of Government following officially sponsored
meetings which led to their formation. |

` А very serious fire in August 1951, which left several thousand
homeless, led to the contribution of very large sums of money to
various charitable organisations for the relief of the fire victims,
and at subsequent meetings of the interested organisations it was
agreed to pool the resources and create the Singapore Joint Relief
Organisation. This body is likely to prove a venture of considerable
value to future large scale charity work in the Colony.

The Social Welfare Council continued to perform effectively its
basic objectives of advising Government in all matters affecting the
social welfare of the people and of co-ordinating the activities of the
organisations represented on tlie Council. Government departments
and voluntary organisations were represented, unofficial represent-
ation being in the majority.

The training of officers of the Department, both in Singapore and
in the United Kingdom, continued. One officer returned to duty
towards the end of the year after having obtained first class honours
in his Final B.Sc. (Econ.) examination at the London School of
Economics. Slowly but surely, a body of professional officers special-
ly trained in various aspects of Social Welfare work is being built up.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN

. The work of the Women and Children's Section of the Depart-
ment is directed towards the prevention of exploitation and ill-
treatment of women and children. To this end, women and children
arriving in Singapore from China are screened on first arrival and
are visited at their homes after they have settled down. A total of
5,183 women and girls were screened on arrival from China and 410
of these were detained temporarily for further enquiry.

Although the overseas trafficking in women and girls has declined
in the years following the war, there are still a large number of pros-
titutes in Singapore. There are no licensed brothels or registered
prostitutes and every effort is made to suppress establishments
operating as disorderly houses. Although prostitution is not an
offence in itself, soliciting is open to prosecution, while the manage-
ment of brothels or living on immoral earnings are regarded as most
serious offences. The Department is particularly concerned to rescue

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 89

Juvenile prostitutes under the age of 18 years, as these girls can be
detained in a home under the Women and Girls Protection Ordin-
ance. Raids on brothels and hotels believed to be harbouring juvenile
prostitutes are conducted with the co-operation of the Anti-Vice
Section of the Criminal Investigation Department and of the Services
Police. Experience has shown that if rescued in their youth, the
girls are usually suitable subjects for rehabilitation at the Depart-
ment's Pasir Panjang Girls' Home. Adults on the other hand are
rarely susceptible to rehabilitation.

Registration with the Department required by the Children and
Young Persons Ordinance in respect of “transferred children” with-
in the Colony will, in time, prevent easy adoption of girls for im-
moral purposes. Up to the end of 1951, 949 children had been re-
gistered as “transferred children', 505 of these during the year.

The Women and Girls Protection Ordinance and the Children and
Young Persons Ordinance give the Protector powers to inquire into
cases of ill-treatment of women and children and to remove to a
place of safety any woman or child who, it is suspected, has been
ill-treated. 57 cases were reported and investigated in 1951. Court
proceedings were taken in 5 of these cases against the legal guar-
dians or parents of the children, and in all cases fines were imposed.
In other cases which were not sufficiently severe to warrant court
action, the children concerned were either accommodated in a Social
Welfare Home or placed on the visiting list.

YOUTH WELFARE

Government's Policy is to encourage voluntary effort in the im-
provement of existing youth welfare organisations and in the pro-
vision of new facilities for youth. This encouragement extends to the
giving of advice and, in suitable cases, financial assistance for de-
velopment purposes. The Department itself does not, however,
attempt to organise youth activities, in recognition of the principle
that the guidance should stop short of 'spoon-feeding'.

All the established youth organisations in the Colony are affiliated
to the Singapore Youth Council, which was formed jn 1948. The
Council's objects are to promote the interests of youth movements
in Singapore, to act as a liaison body between various youth move-
ments, and to disseminate knowledge of and to encourage interest
in the moral and spiritual training of youth. The Council has already
done much useful work in disseminating information amongst its
member organisations regarding youth work in various parts of the
world, in organising meetings of youth leaders, in arranging sports

90 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

programmes, and in obtaining sites for playing fields and camps.
The Council sent seven delegates to the meeting of the World As-
sembly of Youth held at Ithaca, New York, in the summer of 1951.

There are eight Boys’ Clubs with a total membership of nearly
1,500. Although many Clubs were handicapped by the absence of
suitable playing fields, planned programmes of sport and other
activities were undoubtedly responsible for the interest taken in
these Clubs and for the steady increase in their membership. The
inter-club competitions run by the Youth Council gave rise to a
healthy sporting rivalry between the Clubs. A Federation of Boys'
Clubs was constituted in 1950 and this Federation is now a member
organisation of the Council. The Clubs, which recruit their own
Leaders and pay them salaries, receive financial assistance from
Government through the Department, which is building up a corps
of Club Leaders on its establishment. These leaders can be posted
to various Clubs at the discretion of the Secretary for Social Welfare.

Singapore sent three delegates to the first United Nations Youth
Welfare Seminar held in Simla in November. An informal com-
mittee was set up to review the Seminar proceedings and to make
suggestions for appropriate action in Singapore.

THE JUVENILE COURT AND PROBATION SERVICES

The Juvenile Court

583 children and young persons appeared before the Juvenile
Court. 509, of whom 85 were girls, were found guilty. The corres-
ponding figures for 1950 were 455 and 392, of whom 42 were girls.
The increase in cases was due to the rise in the number of juvenile
hawkers brought before the Court for causing obstruction.

The number of convictions for offences against the person and
against property was approximately the same as in 1950. There was
a slight increase in the number of cases of juvenile vagrants, but
vagrancy of this kind is nevertheless far less common than in the
years immediately following the liberation. About half of those
committed to Approved Schools had absconded from institutions.
13 cases were committed to the Young Offenders' Section of the
Prison.

The Probation Services

94 new cases were placed on probation. This figure represented
18.5 per cent of the children and young persons found guilty by the
Juvenile Court, as compared with 16.6 per cent in 1950 and 12.3 per
cent in 1949. If convictions for absconding from institutions and

Public Relations
An important step in community development

Singapore Improvement Trust

Singapore Improvement Trust flats for workmen at Dorset Road. The monthly
rental of a two bedroom and a three bedroom flat is $38 and $55 respectively

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Overcrowded shop-houses in one of the oldest parts of the city

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| Public Relations

School children attend a Government Travelling dispensary

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Singapore Inbvemnen Trust
Part of the Princess Elizabeth Housing Estate, Bukit Timah, erected by the
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The new buildings for the Gan Eng Seng Secondary School, opened in 1951.

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 9I

minor offences such as hawking without a licence and vagrancy are
excluded, the percentage put on probation is 41.5 per cent.

Twenty-one cases ended their period of probation satisfactorily,
whilst fifteen cases were classed as unsatisfactory. These figures are
not so good as those of either 1950 or 1949, but of the fifteen cases
classed as unsatisfactory in 1951, only four were brought before the
Court for commission of fresh offences. The other eleven were
charged with breaches of their probation orders.

A start was made with probation work in the Police and Higher
Courts, and seven cases were placed on probation before the end of
the year. Several others were assisted in various ways by the Pro-
bation Officers. All cases responded favourably to treatment.

HOMES AND HOSTELS

The Bukit Timah Home was opened in June 1947 as an Approved
School for boys committed by the Juvenile Court for a period of 3 to
5 years. No boy may be kept in the Home after he has passed his
19th birthday.

The Home is organised on the lines of a Boarding School and
every endeavour has been made to avoid a prison-like atmosphere.
Many of the minor routine duties of supervision are carried out by
prefects chosen from amongst the boys on the basis of good conduct
and leadership. Instruction is given in carpentry and rattan work,
tailoring, laundering, cooking and baking, vegetable and flower
gardening, animal husbandry and the care of poultry. There are also
classes in elementary English, mathematics, and general knowledge.

On arrival, a boy is admitted to the lowest grade and only rises
by hard work and good behaviour. Under a system of payment for
work, a portion of the money is put into a Post Office Savings Bank
account, whilst the balance may be spent in the canteen.

Employment was found in Singapore for sixty-seven of the seventy-
four boys discharged in 1951. Aftercare visits carried out by members
of the staff of the Home indicated that the great majority of the boys
do very well after their discharge. Many employers are so satisfied
that they are anxious to offer employment to boys discharged in
future. A Board of Visitors was established in 1951, and in con-
junction with this Board, a Parole Board was constituted to advise
the Department on the granting of parole licences to boys who have
been in the Home at least one year and have done well enough to
warrant conditional release before the completion of their terms of
committal.

The Mount Emily Home is an orphanage accommodating 70 boys
between the ages of 6 and 14. The great majority of the boys attend

92 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Government schools regularly and receive additional instruction in
the Home in the afternoons. Recreational facilities include visits to
the local swimming pool and instruction in boxing and scouting.
A Board of Visitors was constituted shortly before the end of the
year. |

The Girls' Ноте, Pasir Panjang, established in January 1947,
provides accommodation and rehabilitation training for girls dis-
covered in brothels and detained under the provisions of the Women
and Girls Protection Ordinance. Most of the inmates have been
trained for prostitution from an early age and lack education of any
sort at the time of their admission. Rehabilitation has, therefore, to
be based on endless patience and unflagging enthusiasm on the part
of the staff. Discipline is necessarily strict, with the object of instilling
firmly a respect for law and order. Training consists of educational
classes in English, Mandarin, arithmetic, general knowledge and
hygiene; practical training in needle work and embroidery up to a
very high standard; cooking and general domestic work; gardening
and the care of poultry. Nineteen girls were admitted and twenty-
three discharged, and the strength of the Home at the end of the year
was thirty-two. Most of those released were found employment in
domestic work or were married from the Home. Aftercare visiting
is carried out by lady inspectors from the Department.

The Girls’ Homecraft Centre, York Hill, provides accommo-
dation and training for the many types of young children and girls,
other than juvenile prostitutes, who need institutional care. The
Home is divided into the Nursery Section, accommodating babies
and small boys and girls up to six years of age, and the Homecraft
Section for girls from seven to eighteen years of age. Boys from the
Nursery Section are transferred to the Mount Emily Home on
reaching their seventh birthday or earlier.

At the end of the year there was a total of 183 residents in the
Home, 48 of whom were in the Nursery Section and 135 in the Home-
craft Section.

Boys’ Hostels

The Department operates two hostels which accommodate work-
ing boys on low wages and boys placed on probation by the Juvenile
Court or discharged from the Bukit Timah Home. Most of the boys
living in the hostels are in employment, but they nevertheless do all
the cleaning of the hostel premises and share the duties involved in
the preparation of meals. At the end of the year thirty-five boys were
resident in the two hostels.

fe -— et У: Fle

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 | 93

Homes for Adults

The Nantina Home and Bushey Park Home, run by the Depart-
ment, cater for the destitute awaiting repatriation, for the aged and
the unemployable who can no longer care for themselves, and for
the victims of fires and other disasters. About 230 persons can be
accommodated in the Bushey Park Home which provides barrack-
type accommodation with separate hutments for each sex. The
Nantina Home is housed in a former Japanese hotel and the number
of residents is comparatively small.

The two Institutions are run on communal lines, only a minimum
paid staff being employed. The residents do their own cooking, `
washing, sewing, and also attend to the sanitation of the institutions.
A small sum of pocket money is issued monthly, but those who
work in the kitchen for the benefit of the others receive slightly more
as remuneration.

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL CENTRES AND CRECHES

The Children's Social Centres were opened in 1947 to feed under-
nourished children and combat malnutrition. Although the Centres
are not designed to provide instruction, except as a very temporary
measure for children of school-age, a large group of voluntary lady
workers help to give such children an elementary academic in-
struction and lessons in cleanliness and hygiene, singing, drawing,
carpentry and tailoring. Nursery classes are provided in a number of
Centres for children in the 2-6 years age group. Each child receives
a daily snack consisting of a two ounce vitaminised bun, a milk
drink and fresh fruit.

Clinics were maintained by the St. John Ambulance Brigade at
eight Centres. The average daily attendance at the fifteen Centres
dropped by some 400 to 1,450 in 1951; this is believed to be due
largely to the greatly increased number of places available in new
schools. |

The plans for development envisage the gradual growth of Chil-
dren's Centres into full Community Centres providing facilities not
only for the present work but also for older boys’ and girls’ club
work in the late afternoon and evening, and for adult vocational
and recreational facilities. A start in this direction has been made
by the provision of a library at one of the Centres and by the use of
two other Centres for boys' club work and for evening classes.

The Department's two day nurseries dealt with an average of 104
children each working day in 1951. The mothers of these children are

94 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

in employment and normally pay a daily fee of ten cents per child.
The older children are provided with two meals each day, whilst
bottle-fed children are given full cream milk. Kindergarten classes
were started in both nurseries,

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

A new comprehensive Public Assistance Scheme was introduced
in the middle of the year and, a Public Assistance Board was con-
stituted to advise on the administration of this scheme and to make
recommendations to Government on any modifications considered
. necessary in the light of current conditions. Expenditure under the
Tuberculosis Treatment Allowances Scheme was greater than in any
previous year. A Far Eastern Relief Fund Farm was established
in the Kranji area at a cost of over $50,000, and nine families whose
breadwinners were killed in the war, were settled on the Farm.

The new Scheme of Public Assistance provides relief at rates very
considerably higher than the old allowances of $5 a month for an
adult male, $4 a month for an adult female, and $2 a month for a
child. There are two rates of allowance under the new Scheme.
The 'superior' rate of $15 a month for the applicant or head of
household and $5 a month for each dependant is provided only for
those who can satisfy lengthy residential qualifications. The *in-
ferior' rate of $10 a month for the applicant or head of household
and $4 a month for each dependant is provided for those who have
at least 3 years' residence in Singapore but who cannot prove the
stricter residential qualifications required for the 'superior' rate.
No applicant may draw assistance in excess of $45 a month at the
‘superior’ rate or $35 a month in the case of the ‘inferior’ rate,
except in cases where the head of household has been sick and un-
able to work for more than a month, when a special additional
allowance is payable, approximately equal to the above maxima.
In the light of working experience several amendments were made
to this scheme under which average monthly expenditure rose from
$22,500 to over $50,000.

The Tuberculosis Treatment Allowances Scheme provides re-
latively high rates of relief to persons who have a reasonable chance
of recovery if they can obtain rest and good food. Persons receiving
relief are required to cease work during the period of treatment and
payment of allowances. The publicity given to the scheme, the favour-
able rates paid, and the use of new drugs, with the help of which
many cases once classed as hopeless are now curable, all contributed

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 95

to a rapid increase in the number of persons drawing these allow-
ances, which totalled over $400,000—some $50,000—more than
originally estimated. The co-operation of the Hospitals and the
Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association is an essential factor in the
success of this scheme, and specialised treatment is given free of
charge to beneficiaries.

The Silver Jubilee Fund, a Trust Fund set up in 1936 for the relief
of distress in Singapore, once again proved its very great value both
in supplementing the Public Assistance Scheme in a wide range of
particularly deserving cases, and also in providing certain types of
assistance in kind, such as the provision of artificial limbs, trusses,
school books for children of poor parents, clothing and funeral
expenses, which could not have been provided out of the other votes
and funds operated by the Department. The Fund expended a total
of $117,000 during the year and assisted an average of 589 cases
per month.

The Far Eastern Relief Fund for the relief of distress arising out
of the Japanese occupation, assisted an average of 88 families mon-
thly. The Fund grants a war victim allowance to deserving families,
and also. provides necessaries such as clothing, artificial limbs and
cooking utensils. The families who were settled on the Far Eastern
Relief Fund Farm mentioned above were aided by gifts of seeds,
farm implements, manure, essential furniture and other household
necessaries and an allowance of $50 a month to tide them over tbe
initial period whilst they were opening up their farms.

ADVICE AND ENQUIRY SERVICES

The Citizens' Advice Bureau registered a total of 1,419 cases and
also dealt with a number of enquiries which did not merit registra-
tion as the advice given was of a trivial nature. The Bureau arbitrated
between land owners and groups of squatters in eight cases in which
the land was required for genuine building development. Eighty-
eight tenancy disputes were handled. Five hundred and ninety persons
were helped to replace Identity Cards, Food Ration Cards or Birth
Certificates lost as the result of fires.

Under the free legal advice and aid system assistance was given
in 34 cases, all of which were satisfactorily settled. Many of these
were claims for arrears of salaries and for compensation. Appli-
cations for Certificates of Presumption of Death in respect of persons
who disappeared during the war continued to diminish in number.
In 1951, forty-eight applications were received and thirty-six Certi-
ficates were issued.

96 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

SOCIAL RESEARCH

Social Research in Singapore is in its infancy and it presents many
problems whose solutions have yet to be found. Of these problems,
that of sampling is the fundamental one for without a sample on
which reliance may be placed, all subsequent work may prove to be
of little value. At the end of 1951, a Sub-Committee of the Social
Security Working Party planned a pilot survey of sickness, the main
purpose of which was to obtain information on the extent to which
illness imposes financial hardship upon the community. The pilot
survey was undertaken by University students who had volunteered
as investigators and who had been trained by the Research Section
of the Department. This survey showed that a great deal of preli-
minary experimental work will have to be undertaken before a satis-
factory sampling procedure can be established, and this experi-
mental work is likely to occupy the Research Section fully for the
next year or two.

Legislation

IFTY Ordinances were enacted during the year 1951. One of these
was the Supply Ordinance, twenty-six were amending Ordinances,
and twenty-three were new Ordinances.

The following are the more important:—

The Singapore Sports Stadium Incorporation Ordinance, 1951, No. 6
of 1951.

This Ordinance provides the necessary machinery for the estab-
lishment, construction, conduct and maintenance, of a modern
sports stadium in the Colony capable of catering for all the major
sports and of staging international games and sports events.

The Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, 1951, No. 7 of 1951.

This Ordinance makes further and better provision for the regula-
tion of the importation, exportation, manufacture, sale and use of
opium and of certain other dangerous drugs and substances. It
replaces the Deleterious Drugs Ordinance (Chapter 190 of the
Revised Edition) and the Opium and Chandu Proclamation (Pro-
clamation No. 43).

The Police Force (Amendment) Ordinance, 1951, No. 8 of 1951.

The amendment made by this Ordinance enables persons who are
neither British subjects nor British protected persons to join the
Special Constabulary constituted under section 36 of the Police
Force Ordinance, 1941, but with the qualification that their services
may not be accepted without the Governor's permission.

The Civil Defence Ordinance, 1951, No. 19 of 1951.

This Ordinance makes provision for the civil defence of the Colony
and enables the Governor in Council by rules made under the Ordin-
ance to take whatever action may be necessary or expedient to form
and organise civil defence forces and services. Such rules require the
approval of the Legislative Council.

98 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The Revised Edition of the Laws Ordinance, 1951, No. 25 of 1951.

This Ordinance gives legislative sanction for the preparation and
publication of a new Revised Edition of Ordinances in force on the
31st December, 1951, or on such later date as the Governor may fix
by notification in the Gazette, and, for the first time, of an Edition
of Subsidiary Legislation. The present Revised Edition of the laws
was prepared in 1935.

The Probation of Offenders Ordinance, 1951, No. 27 of 1951.

This Ordinance provides for the probation of offenders. In the year
1948 the Prisons Inquiry Commission recommended the introduc-
tion of an Adult Probation Service in the Colony. Since then pro-
bation has been in operation as an essential part of the machinery of
the Juvenile Court, and experience has been gained by the officers
concerned to enable them to operate an Adult Probation Service.

This Ordinance makes provision for such a Service.

The Local Forces (Civil Liability) Ordinance, 1951, No. 34 of 1951.

This Ordinance enables payments in addition to pay and allow-
ances to be paid to members of Local Forces or their dependents for
the relief of financial hardship arising in consequence of their service
with such Forces.

The Currency Ordinance, 1951, No. 42 of 1951.

This Ordinance replaces the Currency Ordinance, 1938, No. 22 of
1938, and provides for the constitution of a Board of Commissioners
of Currency, Malaya and British Borneo which has the sole right to
issue notes and coin for use as currency in the Federation of Malaya,
the Colonies of Singapore, Sarawak and Borneo and the State of
Brunei, and to manage a Currency Fund.

The Consular Conventions Ordinance, 1951, No. 44 of 1951.

This Ordinance confers upon Consular Officers of foreign States
with which consular conventions are concluded by His Majesty,
certain powers relating to the administration of the estates and pro- -
perty of deceased persons, and restricts the powers of police officers
and other persons to enter the consular offices of such States. It also
amends sections 96 and 344 of the Merchant Shipping Ordinance
(Chapter 150) so as to allow the Port Officer to pay over or deliver
the money or other property of a deceased seaman resident in a
foreign State to a Consular Officer of that State and a Consular
Officer to act as the agent of the owner of a foreign ship wrecked on
or near the coasts of the Colony. |

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 99

The Electrical (Rural Areas) Ordinance, 1951, No. 50 of 1951.

This Ordinance provides for the control of private electrical instal-
lations in the rural area of the Colony.

The Singapore Improvement (Amendment No. 2) Ordinance, 1951,
No. 49 of 1951.

This Ordinance imposes on the Singapore Improvement Trust
the duty of carrying out a diagnostic survey of the Colony and of
preparing a Master Plan in order to ensure the planned and con-
trolled development of all land in the Colony.

Law and Order

A—JUSTICE

HE Courts Ordinance (Chapter 10) provides for the following
Courts for the administration of Civil and Criminal law:—

(a) The Supreme Court;
(b) District Courts;

(d) Coroners' Courts.

The Court of Criminal Appeal Ordinance (Chapter 11) provides
for appeals from convictions had in trials at Assizes.

The Supreme Court is composed of the Chief Justice and three
or more Puisne Judges. It is a Court of Record, and consists of—

(a) the High Court which exercises original criminal and civil
jurisdiction, and appellate criminal and civil jurisdiction in
cases tried in District and Police Courts; and

(b) the Court of Appeal which exercises appellate civil jurisdic-
tion in cases tried in the High Court.

An appeal lies from the Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal
Appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Criminal trials at Assizes are held every month before a Judge
sitting with a jury of seven persons.

At the beginning of 1951 there were two District Courts, seven
Police Courts and the Juvenile Court. During the course of the year
two District Courts which had been closed were re-opened; this was
necessary by reason of the sudden increase in the number of District
Court cases relating to offences committed during the riots which
occurred in December 1950. By June all these cases had been dealt
with and the Fourth District Court was closed at the end of that
month. It was decided, however, to retain the Third District Court.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 101

Cases which were formerly heard in the Marine Courtin Fullerton
Building were heard in the First Police Court in the early part of the
year. Subsequently arrangements were made for such cases to be
heard in the Fourth Police Court.

Generally speaking good progress was maintained in dealing with
the number of outstanding cases. There were 4 outstanding pre-
liminary inquiries at the end of the year as compared with 7 at the
end of 1950 while the number of outstanding cases was 728 as com-
pared with 1,131 at the end of 1950.

The District Judge, Civil District Court, also presided over the
Rent Conciliation Board throughout the year. In addition to per-
forming the duties of these two offices he was also the President of
the Compensation Board established under the Singapore Essential
Regulations. An additional District Judge was appointed on Ist
June. The office of Registrar, Civil District Court, remained vacant
and the Registry was in the charge of the Chief Clerk who, in addi-
tion to performing the duties of Chief Clerk and the Registrar as
required by the District Court Rules, was also Registrar of the
Compensation Board. All clerical work, as also that of interpreters,
bailiffs, process servers and peons, required by these Boards was
done by the staff of this Court.

There is also a Coroner's Court; a Coroner is appointed by the
Governor either for the whole Colony or for a district thereof.

The Courts Ordinance also provides for the appointment of
Justices of the Peace who, however, have no power to try cases.

The criminal procedure of the Colony is governed by the Criminal
Procedure Code while civil procedure is governed by Rules of Court
made under the Courts Ordinance.

B—POLICE

THE EMERGENCY

Repeated Police action throughout 1951, aimed at the removal
of the more important integral parts of the Communist machine,
brought about a collapse of the Communist organisation in Singa-
pore which had not, at the end of the year, been remedied. The
first moves had already been taken in November and December of
1950 with the seizure of the Communist Party Headquarters in
Arang Road and the subsequent capture of the Party's Town Com-
mittee who had been frequenting it. The Communist machine still
carried on of its own momentum, however, and it was not until five

102 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

more portions had been removed that by March 1951, the Com-
munists called off their campaign of violence in order to discover
and eliminate traitors within the Party. Thereafter three more telling
blows were struck, including the seizure of their long-sought print-
ing press, and these reverses kept their activities to isolated incidents,
mostly of an anti-personnel nature.

Early in February the Assistant Commandant of the Special
Constabulary was shot dead by a Communist gunman. A police
constable was fired at and wounded in similar circumstances. There
were nine cases of arson of buses and taxis during February and in
June two more taxis were burnt.

A case which deserves special mention occurred in early January
when, after long and painstaking investigation, thirty-four members
of the intelligentsia in Singapore, teachers and University under-
graduates, were arrested. The persons detained had been induced
by the Malayan Communist Party to form an “English-speaking
branch of the Anti-British League', an organisation which put out
a considerable quantity of propaganda in English, Chinese and
Malay, and in addition collected funds for the Party. When the
arrests and searches were made, certain members were found to
have been experimenting with the production of bombs. The eradi-
cation of this organisation in its early stages of development did
much to prevent the spread of Communism to a new and important
section of the community. | |

Communist penetration of labour was proved in one instance and
suspected in others. On the whole, however, labour was not a
fruitful field for communist activity owing no doubt partly to
improved economic conditions and partly to the disruption of the
Communist organisation. Communist penetration of schools con-
tinued to cause concern but the problem is political and external
rather than subversive and internal. There is, regarding new China,
a very natural stirring of emotions in the young and impetuous
minds of the Chinese youth of the Colony which has no opportunity
of knowing the real conditions behind the ‘bamboo curtain’ and no
inclination to listen to its elders on the subject.

At the close of the year there were 303 persons in detention, 231
had been released on Suspension or Direction Orders and 139 had
been released unconditionally as no longer a source of Communist
infection. 165 had been repatriated or sent to their country of choice.
The total of National Registration Identity Cards checked during
the year was 6,699,984, resulting in 953 prosecutions.

ANNUAL REPORT 195] 103

GENERAL REVIEW

Reference is made in Part I of this Report to the Commission
of Inquiry appointed to enquire into the measures taken to protect
life and property and to restore law and order during and after the
riots in December 1950. As a result of the riots, morale in the Uni-
form Branch of the Police was low and in January the Muslim
Advisory Board paid a series of visits to Divisional canteens to
explain to the men that there were no justifiable religious grounds
for their dereliction of duty during the riots. In the Special Branch,
Criminal Investigation Department, and Gurkha Contingent morale
remained excellent as it had been throughout the period of the riots.
The new Commissioner arrived early in February and set himself
to restore confidence between the officers and men, which had been
shaken. To this end informal visits were paid to the larger Police
Stations and personal contact was made with as many of the rank
and file as possible. The Commissioner also held conferences with
Gazetted Officers, Inspectors and Staff-Sergeants.

To restore both police and public morale orders were given that,
with the exception of a few small rural stations, police station peri-
meter fences were no longer to be locked at night and that as many
uniformed police as possible were to be put out on patrol and beat
duty by day and night. Village patrols led by officers or staff-sergeants
helped to restore confidence in the rural areas. The establishment of
a special unit to investigate and prosecute cases arising out of the
riots, reduced the numbers available for ordinary police duties, but
the steady stream of convictions for rioting had a deterrent effect
on the lawless elements of the population.

Experience gained during the riots led to the establishment in
March of a combined Police /Military Operations Room at Fort
Canning and liaison between the Police and the Military became
very close and remained so. Combined Police and Military internal
security exercises took place frequently in Police Divisions and at
the Combined Operations Room. The effect of these exercises was
to show that Government was not prepared to tolerate any future
civil disturbances. The Police Riot Drill was revised and frequently
practised in Divisions and at the Training School.

The Riot Inquiry Commission had suggested that the use of a
Mounted Police Force might be helpful in times of civil disturbance.
Careful consideration was given to this recommendation but it was
decided that Mounted Police, although useful for the control of
peaceful crowds, were too vulnerable for use in the control of hostile
crowds. Approval was, therefore, given to the formation of a Riot

104 | COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Unit on the pattern of that which proved successful in over a thou-
sand riots in Shanghai during the 15 years before the war, without
ever having to open fire on the rioters.

Upon the disbandment in January of the Singapore Harbour
Board Auxiliary Police, sixty members were offered temporary
appointments as Police Lieutenants to provide a stiffening for the
Regular Police. At this time the policing of the city was almost
entirely effected by radio car patrols and the Anti-Terrorist Detach-
ment who, with the help of Criminal Investigation Department plain
clothes men, carried out surprise screenings of sections of the city
by night and surprise checks on the roads by day. A marked improve-
ment in the keeness and effectiveness with which these duties were
carried out became apparent when Police Lieutenants took charge.
The original six months’ contracts of fifty-eight of these Police
Lieutenants were subsequently renewed for a further period of 3
years.

In February a Police Advisory Committee was formed composed
of five (later extended to eight) responsible representatives from
various races and interests in Singapore, with the Commissioner of
Police as Chairman. Regular monthly meetings were held and the
views of the public regarding police affairs were discussed.

Grievances were voiced early in the year by the rank and file, the
chief of which were insufficient pay to meet the rising cost of living
and lack of accommodation. A three-man Committee appointed to
examine and make recommendations regarding the pay and allow-
ances of the rank and file, recommended increases which were
approved before the end of the year. The problem of increased
accommodation could not be solved so easily or rapidly. The Force
possesses some excellent barrack accommodation but building has
not kept pace with the increases in establishment necessitated
largely by the Emergency. As a result many of the rank and file are
obliged to rent inferior accommodation at some distance from their
Stations which is a source of inconvenience to both the Administra- |
tion and the men. A scheme was evolved, however, for the concen-
tration of Police families in the Stations to ensure their safety in
time of civil disturbances.

Two major administrative changes were introduced. The Inspec-
tors, who had not previously been responsible for particular com-
mands, were given personal command of one or more Police Stations
with responsibility for the rank and file attached. Following a pre-
liminary trial in one Division, a system was introduced to provide
a weekly rest day for every member of the force. A beginning was
also made with a scheme to post senior married Police Constables

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 | 105

in selected coastal villages to look after the local fishermen, to
encourage their recruitment into the Volunteer Special Constabulary
as coast watchers, and to act as a receiving point for pols of
births, deaths and offences.

ESTABLISHMENTS AND STRENGTHS
Regular Police
The authorised establishment and actual strength of the Force
on 31st December, 1951, was as follows:—

Autho-
rised Actual
Commissioner T ie 1 l
Deputy Commissioner .. a2 1 1
Assistant Commissioners m 4 3
Superintendents - 7 4
Assistant Superintendents - Ny 94 85
Chief Inspectors - 25 18
Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors m 128 132
Staff-Sergeants M 48 44
Sergeants 55 RE p 163 157
Corporals .. m. v 470 416
Constables... 2 0. 2,15 1,928
Recruits v 200 161
Detective Special Grade . 2 11 11
Detective Staff Sergeants | кс 37 35
Detective Sergeants И % 43 43
Detective Corporals e T 116 112
Detective Constables x ЕН 226 189
3,680 3,340
Distribution by races was:—
| WOMEN CONS-
STABLES
N.C.Os. -2 — ~~ ~
Nationalities Officers | Insp. and N.COs.
| Men and |
Insp. Con-
stables
Bo ама a TET Ива қа | —
Euro n .. 80 2 2P
Malay z l 18 | 2,454 5
Chinese T 7 64 48 1 12
Indonesian .. | T T 13
Indians TN 1 27 x 106 2
Pakistani id š 3 54 B
Ceylonese I 3 7 E d
Eurasians . 2 28 8 4

106 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Owing to the fact that the normal Police recruiting areas for
Malays in Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Penang were no longer
available, Malay recruitment practically ceased. The intention is to
recruit Chinese, Indians and Eurasians in sufficient numbers to
create a racially balanced Force. It has always proved extremely
difficult, however, to recruit Chinese into the lower ranks of the
uniformed Police and a further attempt to do so in November 1951,
procured but a handful of recruits. It is imperative that this difficulty
be overcome as the population of Singapore is mainly Chinese.

Gurkha Contingent

To assist the regular Police in dealing with civil disturbances,
there is a contingent of Police Gurkhas under the command of two
regular Police Officers. The authorised and actual strengths of the
contingent at the close of the year were:—

rised Actual
Chief Inspector bx is 1
Inspectors .. Яе sis 3 1
Sub-Inspectors - се 13 5
Staff-Sergeants v кз 3
Sergeants s is 15 5
Corporals 39 17
riter е ss a 2 1
Constables... Кр is 405 156
481 185

It was not possible to bring the Gurkha Contingent up to strength
owing to difficulty in recruiting in Nepal.

Special Constabulary

The regular Force continued to be reinforced and supplemented
by the Special Constabulary. The Active Unit, consisting of men
engaged on monthly agreements who have undergone a short train-
ing in discipline and the use of arms, with an abbreviated course in
law and Police duties, performed many of the static guard, escort
and similar duties which normally are carried out by the Regular
Police.

A special sub-division of the Active Unit guards factories and
godowns from arson and other forms of sabotage by the Malayan
Communist Party. These Godown Guards are trained in the use of
firearms and elementary guard duties and are supervised and dis-
ciplined by the Police. The cost of training is borne by Government
but salaries are paid by the firms employing them.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 107

The establishment and composition of the Active Unit at the end
of 1951 were as follows:—

кз: А ctual
Commandant Р 4 1 1
Assistant Commandant .. Wer. 1 1
Chief Inspector m £s 1 l
Inspectors .. 24 os 9 9
Sergeants a " - 70 61
Corporals .. 24 Pu 155 132
Constables and Godown Guards .. 1,620 1,449

1,857 1,654

Volunteer Special Constabulary

In addition to the Active Unit there is a Reserve Unit of Volunteer
Special Constabulary consisting of Cagetory A: 1,381 men who are
actually employed on part-time duties; Category B: 110 men who
have been trained in Police duties and the use of arms and have
expressed their willingness to serve if required; and Category C: 802
men trained in the use of firearms who could be armed if necessary
for the protection of their places of employment which are usually
vital installations. The total strength of all three Categories at the
end of 1951 was 2,293 men. A company of three platoons of the
Volunteer Special Constabulary was seconded to the command of
the O.C. Gurkhas to form a reserve Emergency Unit in support of
the Gurkha Contingent.

The keeness and efficiency of the members of Category A of the
Reserve Unit has always been notable and their services were
extremely valuable throughout the year.

CRIME

Steady pressure by the Criminal Investigation Department kept
secret society gangs in check. There was a considerable increase in
major crimes in the early part of the year, following the riots in
December 1950, when lawlessness was still high amongst the criminal
element in Singapore. As the Force regained confidence crime
decreased. There was a sharp rise in armed robberies during this
period from 112 in 1950 to 113 by the end of June. From July to
December the figure was 48. The total figures for house-breaking
and theft by day decreased from 145 to 114 but those for the same

108 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

offence by night increased from 818 to 856. Minor thefts increased
by 1,699. The very high price paid for various metals was responsible
for much of the increase of thefts of old iron, brass and metal fittings,
lead, cables and telephone wires. In addition, scarcity or rising costs
of certain other commodities caused an epidemic of thefts of rubber,
tyres, motor vehicle spare parts, building materials, clothing and
cloth.

The illicit importation of gold and opium in considerable quanti-
ties was a matter of concern to both the Customs and the Police.
Not only was the illegal importation a source of corruption in the
` lower ranks of both departments, but the matter was made worse
by the ‘hi-jacking’ of certain amounts of both gold and opium before
reaching the illegal importer.

Gaming

Although the Gambling Suppression Sub-Branch was under-
staffed throughout the year, nevertheless 478 raids were carried out,
The main activities of the Branch were directed against organisers
of Chap Ji Kee lotteries. Chap Ji Kee is an illegal lottery and,
although a collosal swindle, is very popular with the Chinese. The
face value of Chap Ji Kee tickets seized was $147,000 but Police
action appeared to have had little effect in reducing this very popular
form of gaming. Certain notorious Gaming Houses were finally
forced to close by daily round the clock raids by Criminal Investiga-
tion Department and Divisional police working in close liaison.
A consequence of this was that the organisers were driven to promote
gaming in various clubs. Action was taken against seven clubs.

Commercial Crime

Investigations and enquiries were conducted into offences under
the Merchandise Marks and Trade Marks Ordinance, Poisons
Ordinance, Deleterious Drugs Ordinance, Imports and Exports,
Companies, Undersirable Publications, Medical Registration and
Registration of Business Names and the Finance Regulations. One
Company was fined $420,000 which is believed to 95 the highest
fine in the history of the Colony.

Recovered Arms and Ammunition

Arms .. с 56
Ammunitions and Bombs .. 10,843
Grenades ка bs 49
Arrests .. 45 14

Miscellaneous (Bayonets, Shells, etc.) 218

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 | 109

TRAFFIC

Following the reduction in Communist violence it was possible
in the latter part of the year to spare more men for the Traffic Branch
and an energetic campaign was inaugurated and maintained to
educate drivers to improve their road manners and obey the traffic
regulations. Some success was achieved but, owing largely to the
tremendous increase in the numbers of motor vehicles and cycles
on the road, accident statistics were even worse than in previous
years.

Comparative figures for the years 1949-1951 are given below:—
1949 1950 1951

Fatal .. 2 T 104 104 150
Non-fatal Е .. 1,883 2,143 2,585
Non-injued .. .. 5,147 5,726 1,519

7,134 7,973 10,254

Тһе only improvement recorded was that the number of accidents
in which vehicles of H.M. Services were involved was reduced from
1,035 in 1950 to 1,000 in 1951.

MARINE DIVISION

The duties of the Marine Police are to patrol the Colony waters
for the purpose of preventing illegal landings of persons or material
and to prevent offences at sea. By the close of the year, the Marine
Division possessed 40 launches. An Operations Room was set up
in the Marine Division Headquarters in May and new operational
patrol charts, gridded in 1,000 yard squares, were prepared with
the assistance of the Survey Department and the Master Attendant's
Office. The charts enabled a closer control to be kept over craft at sea.

RADIO DIVISION

The Radio Division, which operates all the communications of
the force and maintains preventive patrols of radio cars, again
proved its value. The riots in 1950 had shewn that the mobile radio
network was inadequate in time of emergency. A scheme was
accordingly drawn up for the establishment of three supplementary
networks to distribute the load. This scheme, which was prepared
in consultation with a Home Office radio expert, was approved.
The ‘999’ police telephone call system is now firmly established and
even greater use was made of it by the public.

110 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

WOMEN POLICE

This force, consisting of one inspector, four sergeants, six cor-
porals and thirteen constables was employed with satisfactory
results on a wide variety of duties. These included anti-vice patrols,
suppression of gambling, road safety work at intersections, tele-
printer operation and several types of clerical work.

CRIMINAL RECORD OFFICE

The work of the Office continued to expand. The photographic
section took 7,519 more photographs than in the previous year and
provided an all-night service. The finger-print section made 9,409
searches and identified 11.6 per cent as having previous convictions.
The Office also examined bullets and specimens of type-writing in
conjunction with the Department of Chemistry. The latter, in addi-
tion to carrying out chemical or allied scientific work for other
Departments and official bodies, also performed a considerable
amount of forensic work of a most varied character. This included
toxicological analyses, examinations of garments, weapons and
documents to detect forgeries and of exhibits in arson and acid-
throwing cases. The Department of Chemistry also resumed, for
the first year since the war, its lectures on forensic science for Police
Officers.

TRAINING

The initial training of all recruits and Cadet Officers of both
Gazetted and Inspectorate ranks as well as promotion and refresher
courses is undertaken at the Police Training School. Accommoda-
tion at the School is insufficient to meet the growing demands upon it.

The Police Boys Cadet Corps which was instituted in 1950 to
train and educate sons and nephews of members of the Force with
a view to providing N.C.O. material for the future, continued to be
a success. The enthusiasm and smartness of the boys in their many
public appearances were outstanding. The aim is to recruit thirty
boys a year into this Corps but unfortunately lack of accommoda-
tion prevents this at present.

Education is supervised by a Force Education Officer. The English
education programme of the rank and file was revised during the
year. Three advanced, three intermediate and eight primary classes
were arranged at Raffles Institution, Monk's Hill and Gan Eng Seng
Schools and at Police Divisional Headquarters. In August, eight
Gazetted Police Officers were sent to Cameron Highlands to attend
a six months' course in the Hokkien dialect of Chinese. One attended
a Cantonese course at Macao.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 111

HARBOUR POLICE

An attempt to carry out the policing of the premises of the Singa-
pore Harbour Board by regular police, upon the disbandment of
the Board's Auxiliary Force proved a failure. The ordinary Malay
constable was found to be unsuited for this specialised work and it
was decided that a small, well educated, intelligent and highly
trained force was needed to prevent the heavy pilfering which was
taking place in the docks and godowns. Approval was accordingly
given for the raising by the Board of a separate force of 240 men.
The force is maintained by the Board but is commanded by an
officer seconded from the Regular Police and is governed for pur-
poses of discipline by the Police Force Ordinance. Its establishment
had the immediate effect of reducing crime in the Board's area.

C—PRISONS

There are two prisons in Singapore. Pearl's Hill Prison, which
is close to the centre of the city, is used for the detention of short
term and female offenders and of persons on remand. Long term
offenders are confined at Changi Prison in the rural area.

As a result of agreement by the Occupying Powers that all Japanese
War Criminals serving sentences overseas should complete their
imprisonment in Japan, the prison population showed a decrease
during the year.

Statistics for 1951 were:—

pt E Changi

Daily average number of Male Offenders .. 1,001 664

Daily average number of Female Offenders 55
Highest number of Offenders on any one
дау . 1,352 701

Раіу average number of Young Offenders 26

The Prisons Department was also responsible for the айтына
tion of the Camp on St. John's Island established as a place of
detention under the Emergency Regualtions. The average daily
number of detainees in this Camp was 156 and the highest number
on any one day was 177, an average increase of over 70 compared
with the 1950 figure.

Discipline in the prisons was good and there were no escapes.
Only ten offenders against prison discipline, as compared with
thirty-six in 1949 and eleven in 1950, were awarded corporal punish-
ment by caning. Eleven offenders condemned to death were received,
of whom four were executed. The health of offenders continued to

112 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

be satisfactory. All tuberculosis cases were sent to Changi and
appeared to derive benefit from the country air.

The former European Block at Pearl's Hill Prison was converted
into a new Female Prison by prison labour, and the installation of
electric light in all cells in Pearl's Hill was completed during the year.
Educational facilities were extended and classes were started for
Young Offenders who also received practical instruction in mat
making, carpentry and shoe repairing. Voluntary hobby classes
continued in both prisons. A film projector for Changi Prison was
purchased out of the Amenities Fund arising from the Prisoners"
Earnings Scheme.

The prison farm at Changi continued to make good progress and
produced some 156,800 Ib. of vegetables, compared with 90,000 Ib.
in 1950. The piggery and chicken farm also showed good results.

Action continued on the Report of the Prison Enquiry Commis-
sion and three of its recommendations which were implemented
concerned the establishment of a Young Offenders Section at Pearl's
Hill Prison, the granting of leave and passages to India for Indian
Warders and the payment of increased gratuities to short-term
offenders on discharge.

Visiting Justices of the Peace, including Lady Justices, paid
monthly visits of inspection to the prisons, thus maintaining the
personal contact between offenders and unofficial persons of good-
will.

A Conference of the Prison Commissioners of British and British
Protected territories in South-East Asia was held in Penang in
December, under the Chairmanship of Mr. N. R. Hilton,.a retired
Director of Prison Administration in England and Wales. The
Conference afforded a valuable opportunity for discussion and
exchange of information and is likely to become an annual event.

D—DEFENCE

The year was one of consolidation rather than expansion for the
defence forces of the Colony. Negotiations upon the conditions of `
service for the Volunteer Forces proceeded but were not completed
by the end of the year. A new Pay Code for the Malayan Naval
Force was introduced with retrospective effect to the 1st April. The
allowances for non-continuous training and the training regarded
as obligatory were announced for the three Volunteer Forces and
the Reserve Unit of the Special Constabulary, and the general
scheme for the Singapore Harbour Board Reserve was determined
preparatory to the drafting of legislation establishing the Force.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 113

Subsidiary legislation for the establishment of the Civil. Defence
Services was drafted during the year and some of this was brought
into force.

The Malayan Naval Force widened considerably the scope of its
activities during the year and maintained patrols continuously on
the West and East coasts of Malaya. The training of recruits entered
in 1950 was completed early in the year and many of them have been
on operational service on Malayan coastal patrols. MS Pelandok
made four training cruises, two to the East and two to the West
Coast. In July she made the passage up the Kelantan River to Kota
Bharu, the largest ship in recent years to have made this passage.
Limited recruiting was opened in November, primarily to obtain a
sufficient number of administrative ratings to deal with the general
recruiting in 1952 which will be made possible by the building
programme begun in July. The administration block was nearing
completion by the end of the year, two accommodation blocks,
each to house 180 ratings, were well under way, and work on other
buildings, including the instructional Block, Supply Block, Ward-
room and Instructors’ Mess had commenced.

With the acquisition of the training ship Laburnum and the
numerous items of training equipment loaned by the Royal Navy,
the training of the Malayan Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve pro-
gressed steadily. Numbers of ratings were able to get away for week-
end sea training in the Panglima and Simbang, and a good proportion
of the officers completed periods of up to fourteen days continuous
sea training in major war vessels of the Royal Navy. Technical
training equipment was gradually being procured in readiness for
the proposed technical branches. A number of sea exercises were
carried out, the most successful being a combined landing exercise
in which the Singapore Volunteer Corps and the Malayan Auxiliary
Air Force took part. One Malay rating was commissioned from the
lower deck and one local Indian volunteer, a former officer of the
Royal Indian Navy also received his commission. The present
strength has reached the authorised complement and there is a long
waiting list for all branches.

The original plan for the Singapore Volunteer Corps upon its
reconstitution after the war was that the Corps should carrv out
a liaison role with the Regular Forces, but this was changed from
Ist December and the Corps will henceforth concentrate on Anti-
Aircraft defence and Internal Security, while providing smaller
units for such duties as manning coast defences, transport and bomb
disposal. Four 40 mm. L.A.A. guns were held at the end of the year
with one unserviceable gun for instruction. One shoot with live

114 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

ammunition was held. An Anti-Aircraft operation room including
two plotting tables and a locally built dais is now available for
instructional purposes. Deliveries of clothing, equipment and small
arms were satisfactory and four ‘White’ Armoured Scout Cars were
acquired. The Corps took over more of its former buildings, includ-
ing the drill hall and officers mess, and all were rehabilitated. Never-
theless the recruitment of suitable material into the Corps proved
extremely difficult.

Training in the Malayan Auxiliary Air Force proceeded satis-
factorily. All ground trades reached a high standard of proficiency.
In July further temporary accommodation was provided in Block
“В”, Singapore Volunteer Corps Headquarters, Beach Road, thus
allowing more rapid progress in trade training. Limited recreational
facilities, including an Airmen's Canteen were also made available
to members. Pilot training proceeded according to plan and the first
Spitfire aircraft for the Fighter Squadron was received towards the
end of the year.

Noteworthy progress was made by the feeder services to the
Volunteer Forces, especially the Sea Cadets and the Malayan Air
Training Corps. The former expanded to three closed divisions of
fifty cadets each. Training was directed along lines similar to those
followed in the United Kingdom. Visits were made to ships of ће `
Royal Navy and trips to sea were made in craft of the Malayan
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. An outstanding feature of the year
was the unqualified success of the annual camp, held at Woodlands
under the auspices of the Malayan Naval Force. Sports and welfare
officers were appointed to minister to these sides of the life of the
Corps.

The year was memorable too, for the first visit of Malayan Air
Training Corps cadets to the United Kingdom to attend the Anni-
versary Parade of the parent body. Two Chinese and one Malay,
led by the Adjutant of the Corps, formed the party. They visited
Royal Air Force stations, saw Air Training Corps squadrons at
work, visited the Festival of Britain exhibition and spent some time
in Scotland and Wales. Cadets from all squadrons in Singapore
received regular air experience flights in Royal Air Force aircraft
throughout the year. The Corps has now been adopted by the Royal
Air Force Station, Changi. Ten flying scholarships were granted at
the end of the year which will enable cadets to receive free flying
training in Tiger Moth aircraft at the Royal Singapore Flying Club.
Closer liaison with the Royal Air Force enabled the Corps to embark
on a lecturing programme which closely follows that of the Air

Training Corps in Britain.

AUS

Public Relations

H.E. the Governor inspects a Guard of Honour of the Malayan Naval Force,
before opening the first session of the Second Legislative Council

Public Relations

Seaward Defence Motor Launches of the Malayan Naval Force are inspected
by the Flag Officer, Malayan Area, before proceeding to sea for ‘exercises’

Public Relations
Members of the Singapore Volunteer Corps at gun drill

DE — ыма > қы а PREP” Ç: SU S " ха <: aH RCM Р

Singapore Police
A Woman Police Constable on road safety duty

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 115

A beginning was made with the formation of the Singapore
Harbour Board Reserve, for which a suitable headquarters and
drill hall were found in Harbour Board premises. Although not
officially constituted, the force received 200 applications for enrol-
ment. The permanent staff was assembled and uniforms and badges
chosen. .

Further progress was made with the plans for the Civil Defence
of the Colony and rescue training was carried out at a school of
instruction, temporarily established for this purpose near the Royal
Naval Air Station at Sembawang. Some 70 students, mainly from
the Army, Royal Air Force, Police Force and Prisons Department,
received basic rescue training. The remoteness of this site, however,
precluded its use as a convenient school for volunteer students from
the city, and work was begun in August on a temporary Head-
quarters and School at Kolam Ayer, which will operate until per-
manent establishments are built. Construction of offices, lecture
rooms, garages, fire huts and devastated houses and the assembly of
training equipment was nearing completion at the end of the year,
ready for the school's opening early in 1952.

Recruitment for the Civil Defence Corps was opened in April;
but terms and conditions of service were not at that time promul-
gated and the numbers who came forward were far short of require-
ments. This deficiency was not unexpected and gave opportunity
for completing facilities for training. Conditions of service were
finalised before the end of the year and a vigorous recruiting drive
was being planned not only for the manning of the six sections of
the Civil Defence Corps but also for the Singapore Hospital Reserve
and the Auxiliary Fire Service.

The initial establishment for training and administrative staff for
Civil Defence was being filled gradually. A Commandant for the
School arrived from the United Kingdom in August and two Assist-
ant Commissioners early in December, one being appointed to the
City, the other to the Rural area. Difficulty, however, was being
experienced in enlisting the services of instructors from the United
Kingdom.

Public Utilities

HE WATER, electricity and gas supplies and the sewerage services
[ae financed, constructed and administered by the City Council.
Notes on the fire services and on broadcasting, although not strictly
speaking public utilities, are also included in this Chapter.

WATER

1,933 new services were connected to the distribution system dur-
ing the year, raising the total number of metered services to 46,458,
and the average daily consumption rose from 32,566,300 gallons in
1950 to 35,629,000 gallons; the maximum daily consumption was
39,858,500 gallons on 9th June. The total rainfall for 1951 averaged
over the catchment areas in Singapore and Johore was 113.44 inches,
and although this was 8 inches more than in 1950, the increased
demand and the late arrival of seasonal rains so reduced the quantity
stored in the impounding reservoirs that at one stage it was only
with the greatest difficulty that rationing was avoided.

Of the schemes to increase the total safe works capacity of 30 mil-
lion gallons per day, 60 per cent of the construction and mainlaying
was completed in connection with the extension of the capacity of
the Tebrau Works in Johore to 20 million gallons per day. No pro-
gress, however, could be made on the Johore River scheme, and
alternative plans were drawn up for a further extension of the Tebrau
capacity to 50 million gallons daily. Rapid progress with the schemes
will be necessary in 1952 if restriction of supply is to be avoided.

Although bandit activity precluded the maintenance of some of the
catchment areas in the Federation of Malaya, the normal high stand-
ards of bacteriological and chemical purity were maintained, and
the quality of the raw water was so good during certain periods of
the year that only partial treatment was necessary at Bukit Timah
and it was possible to dispense entirely with treatment at Gunong
Pulai.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 117

GAS

The year witnessed another great expansion in the production and
demand for gas. New carbonising plant with a daily capacity of over
500,000 cubic feet of coal gas came into operation in July as sched-
uled. Additional purification plant was installed and more planned
for 1952. Total production amounted to 425,428,000 cubic feet, over
681 million cubic feet more than in 1950, and there was an even
greater increase in the amount sold to private consumers, whose
numbers were raised by about 25 per cent. The sales and fitting of
appliances increased in proportion and, despite higher rates for gas
resulting from the considerable rise in the price of coal, the year
ended with a larger waiting list than when it commenced.

Following upon the improved results obtained from the new car-
bonising plant and in view of the increasing demand, the existing
six beds of retorts were re-examined, and it was decided that they
should be pulled down and rebuilt, thus bringing the whole plant into
first class order.

ELECTRICITY

Following approval of the main contracts towards the end of 1950,
work on the 150,000 Kw. Power Station at Pasir Panjang was
pressed forward with the utmost vigour and, notwithstanding short-
ages of skilled labour, inadequate supplies of granite, and delayed
deliveries of materials, progress may be gauged from the fact that
1,700 tons of structural steelwork and 450 tons of boiler materials
were erected. ;

Until the new station is completed, the full burden continues to
fall upon St. James Power Station, and although the total output
was raised to 208,639,460 Kw. hours, an increase of 21.8 million
units, it was impossible to keep pace with the rapidly rising demand.
As a result and also owing to breakdowns in the existing plant
some of which has almost reached the end of its useful life, it was
necessary to carry out load shedding on a roster system for both
industrial and private consumers at peak load periods throughout
the year.

The heavy load on St. James Station made it impossible at times to
carry out as much routine and preventative maintenance as was
desirable, but a considerable amount of new plant was installed and
extensions were made to the High Tension switchboard and control
panel to accommodate two new 12.5 M.V.A. interconnector trans-
formers in conjunction with the new station.

118 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Over 100 miles of various types of cable were laid and 522 new
street lights were installed, bringing the total length of illuminated
roadway in the city and rural areas to 85 miles. 7,634 new meters
were installed raising the total to 71,407.

An interesting feature of the year was the use of discharge type
lighting to floodlight the City Hall in colour on the occasion of the
City Day celebrations.

SEWERAGE

A heavy construction programme was executed to meet the needs
of new building projects and proposed future development. Approxi-
mately 13 miles of main sewers, 8 miles of minor sewers and 3 miles
of sewer connections were constructed. The sedimentation tank
capacity at the Alexandra Road Disposal Works was increased by
the conversion of two disused Imhoff Tanks into Upward Flow
Sedimentation Tanks. Work continued on the extensive overhaul
of the existing percolating filters at this Works and 12 sludge gas
collectors were renewed.

The post-war rehabilitation of sewers was completed by the
mechanical clearance of about 400 tons of silt from four miles of
sewers, and under the routine maintenance programme, 45 miles
were flushed and cleansed by mechanical equipment.

A total of 9,433 sanitary fittings were installed within the sewered
area and 905 outside the area. 1,858 premises were connected to the
sewerage system and two new public conveniences were constructed,
bringing the total linked to the system to fifty.

FIRE SERVICES

The responsibility for fire protection is shared between the City
Council and the Rural Board, but the Singapore Harbour Board
maintains its own Brigade to deal with outbreaks of fire within the
Board's area.

The City Council Fire Brigade has developed from three officers
and sixty-six firemen in 1906, the first year for which detailed records
are available, to a force of twelve officers and 296 other ranks,
equipped with the most modern appliances, in 1951. The Central
Fire Station was completed in 1909 and a substation was opened at
Geylang in 1929; a further substation at Alexandra Road to serve
the western sector of the island is now in the course of erection. The
city area is covered by a closed circuit fire alarm system which was
recently modernised by the installation of recording equipment.
Тһе Rural Board does not maintain a separate brigade, but is
responsible for the erection and maintenance of substations in the

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 119

rural area, of which two are now planned. These will be operated by
the City Council to which the Board makes a contribution for ser-
vices rendered. |

In 1951, the Впраде answered 854 fire calls, 259 being in (ће rural
area. The Brigade's Accident Ambulance Service, comprising four
ambulances in the city and one in the rural area, answered 5,157
calls. Much of the Brigade's work is concerned with fire prevention;
hazardous trades are controlled and inspected, plans and sites for
new buildings are carefully scrutinised and expert advice is readily
given to the general public who are making increased use of this
service.

The Singapore Harbour Board Brigade, comprising two officers
and sixty-three other ranks, answered 208 calls during the year, of
which thirty-one were fires on ships. Six of the Board's tugs are
fitted with fire pumps and monitors, and it was largely due to the
combined efforts of the Board's Brigade and the crews of two of
these tugs that a very serious fire on the tanker Dromus was ex-
tinguished and the disaster limited.

BROADCASTING

Broadcasting in Singapore and the Federation of Malaya is
operated by a Pan-Malayan Department with its headquarters,
main studios and transmitters in Singapore. Since 1945 the studios
and offices have been accommodated in the first two floors of the
Cathay Building. In order that these premises might be handed back
to the owners for reconversion into flats, and to meet the expanding
needs of the Department, new headquarters and studios were com-
pleted in 1951 at Caldecott Hill. The new premises are sited near to
the pre-war studios of the former Malayan Broadcasting Corpora-
tion, which have been occupied since the war by a section of the
B.B.C.; these studios have now been incorporated in the new station.
The transfer took place in the last quarter of the year, and was so
arranged that programme output was not interrupted. That this
major operation, which included the training of staff to handle
the new equipment and the transfer of fifty thousand gramophone
records, only forty-five of which were damaged, was completed
successfully reflects great credit on all concerned and upon the
Engineering Division in particular. |

Programme Division

The increase in the number of hours of broadcasting weekly
amounted to fifty-one hours in 1951, and was greater than in any

120 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

previous year. The main extension occurred in Chinese dialects as
a result of the introduction of the new Green Network, which is on
the air daily from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and on Sunday mornings for
the exclusive use of Chinese programmes.

In addition to the continuing support which was given to such
permanent social needs as the Blood Bank and road safety, special
radio campaigns were executed in connection with the Legislative
and City Council elections, the Red Cross and Hospitals, Education
Week, and the successful Savings campaign. Matters of interest to
labour and trade unions were given very full coverage and all meet-
ings of the Legislative and City Councils were the subjects of special
reports by the Department's own observers. Topical programmes on
the work of the United Nations, recorded in Lake Success and flown
to Malaya, were featured regularly on all networks and transcrip-
tion services from many countries gave a cosmopolitan flavour to
the Department's programmes. À very welcome improvement in the
quality and quantity of local talent permitted an increase in the
hours devoted to live broadcasts, and a number of locally produced
plays and concerts were relayed. Several new live series were started
on the Chinese and Malay programmes, and the Indian section
presented a number of famous visiting artists for whom, in many
instances, special commemorative songs were composed by the
Indian programme staff. Two features of especial interest were the
four-language commentary on the occasion of the presentation of
the Royal Charter to the City of Singapore and the participation in
the B.B.C.'s ‘London Forum’, when a discussion was held between
two speakers in Singapore and two in London. A special historical
programme was prepared and recorded in Singapore for broadcast-
ing by the B.B.C. in connection with the grant of the City's Charter.

The Department continued to broadcast twenty-five news bulletins
daily in English, Malay, Tamil and five dialects of Chinese. Local
news coverage and the number of news talks was increased. The
Singapore station was also responsible for the final preparation and
transmission of programmes for the Community Listening Service
in the Federation of Malaya; it is hoped to extend this Service in
the near future by the addition of a special programme for Singapore
listeners in conjunction with the Colonial Development and Welfare
Scheme for the provision of community listening receivers.

As a first major step in listener research, a large scale question-
naire survey covering the English programmes was conducted in
January.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 121

Schools Broadcasting

There was again a large increase in the number of schools in
Singapore equipped with receivers. The total rose by 54 to 179 at
the end of 1951, as follows:—

English "T .. 92
Chinese E .. 68
Malay x .. 19

Including the Federation of Malaya, 1,086 schools in all made use
of this Service and the first steps were taken during the year to assem-
ble a staff for broadcasts to Tamil schools. |

Programmes continued on similar lines to those which the ex-
perience of previous years had proved successful. ‘Music and Move-
ment’, started in 1950, was expanded to two programmes a week in
the English section and the books set for the School Certificate
examination were again discussed in the series “English literature for
Standards Eight and Nine'. A popular innovation in the Malay
section was a series of inter-school ‘quizzes’ for which pupils from
schools in Singapore and Johore came to the studio. A new pro-
gramme ‘University of the Air’, specially designed for teachers and
senior students, was broadcast weekly on Friday afternoons.

At the request of the B.B.C., the Schools Division prepared a pro-
gramme describing the problems of Malaya which was broadcast in
the United Kingdom and subsequently transcribed for use through-
out the world. This programme was also employed at a Schools
Broadcasting Conference in Britain as an example of how to present
current affairs for upper classes in Secondary schools.

Engineering Division

In addition to the major task of providing and installing equip-
ment for the new premises and organising the transfer of the techni-
cal studio services from the Cathay Building, the Division was also
responsible for the equipment of one old studio and two new studios
in the original buildings at Caldecott Hill, and for their connection
with the main control room in the new premises. Earlier in the year,
the Division commissioned the new medium and short wave trans-
mitters for the Green Network and, on behalf of the War Depart-
ment, installed a 74 Kw. R.C.A. transmitter for a special service for
Gurkha forces in Malaya which is expected to start early in 1952.
Work was also commenced on the erection of new aerial systems
which it is hoped will improve the general standard of reception of
short wave transmissions in Malaya.

122 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The following is an analysis of the total transmitter hours and of
time lost:—

Total transmitter hours .. .. 18,983

Time lost vis vs T 74 hours 13 minutes

Percentage time lost 25 “š 0.39 per cent
Causes:—

(a) Studio faults ся .. 2 hours 55 minutes.

(Б) Line TN "m. .. lhour 7 minutes.

(d) Power failures vs .. 53 hours 49 minutes.

(e) Transmitter faults .. .. 14 hours 49 minutes.

Of the above, items (b) and (d) were causes beyond the Depart-
ment’s control, leaving a balance of 19 hours 17 minutes or .1 per
cent of the total transmitter hours.

Wireless Licences

The number of licence holders in the Colony has increased from
11,818 at the end of 1947, the first year in which the present form of
‘Broadcast Listening Station Licence’ was introduced, to 30,233,
and annual revenue over the same period has risen from approxi-
mately $142,000 to $364,760. The revenue includes receipts from the
sale of Duplicate and Individual Sale Licences, but excludes revenue
received from Rediffusion (Singapore) Ltd., which commenced
operations in July 1949. Fees paid by this Company in 1951 amount-
ed to $147,685.

There were sixty-four prosecutions for operating receivers without
licences; convictions were recorded in sixty-two cases and fines
varying from $5 to $100 amounted in all to $2,205. A continuous
check was maintained in order to ensure that all licences were
renewed on expiry and that purchasers of new receivers obtained
licences from the Post Offices.

XII

Communications

HE EXPLOITATION Of the natural advantages as an entrepót con-

ferred on Singapore by its geographical position depends to a
large extent on the efficiency of the Colony's communications. Ship-
ping remains of the greatest importance, but the heavy increases in
air passenger traffic and specialised freight carriage to which re-
ference is made in this Chapter, are significant. Communication
with most parts of the world takes only a matter of days by air mail,
and days are being reduced to hours by extension of radio-telephone
links.

SHIPPING AND PORT FACILITIES

In a record year for the port of Singapore, the total tonnage of
cargo discharged and loaded (excluding fuel oil) was 7,405,390 tons
as opposed to 6,213,353 tons in 1950. Of this more than 3 million
tons was handled through the ‘roads’, 34 per cent more than in 1950.

PORT AUTHORITY

The control of the Port of Singapore is divided between two dis-
tinct and quite separate authorities and, although close liaison is
effected between them, there is no single co-ordinating Port Autho-
rity. The system, however, works well. The Master Attendant admi-
nisters all the waters of the Port including Keppel Harbour, Telok
Ayer Basin, and the Singapore, Rochore and Kallang Rivers, under
the Merchant Shipping Ordinance and, as head of the Marine
Department, is directly responsible to the Government. The Chair-
man of the Singapore Harbour Board administers the wharves,
docks and premises of the Board situated in Keppel Harbour and
the quays at Telok Ayer Basin (the latter on behalf of Government)
under the Ports Ordinance. The Board consists of a Chairman, who

124 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

is also the General Manager, the Colonial Secretary and several
representatives of the shipping and commercial community and is
directly responsible to the Governor.

SINGAPORE HARBOUR BOARD

The Singapore Harbour Board handled more than 4 million tons
of cargo, which was more than in 1950 by 10 per cent. A total of
2,936 ships were worked at the Board's wharves with an aggregate
net registered tonnage of 8,299,026 tons.

In order to deal with congestion of transit space caused by the
increase of trade, and to reduce delays to shipping, the Board found
it necessary to increase rent charges for storage of goods for more
than two weeks and also to propose the enactment of legislation
whereby the Board was given power to auction, at its discretion,
cargo remaining in its custody for more than 21 days. As a result of
these measures, and because of the ready co-operation of many of
the merchants, cargo congestion and the consequent delays to ship-
ping, which had reached serious proportions in the middle of the
year, were greatly reduced by the end of 1951.

There were no labour disputes, but the demands of the growing
volume of civil reconstruction work caused shortages of certain
categories of workmen, notably ironworkers, carpenters and all
classes of unskilled labour.

After consultations with the Board of Trade, the Ministry of
Transport, shipowning, insurance and other commercial interests,
new legislation regulating the handling of dangerous goods was
framed during the year and published in May as the Singapore
Harbour Board (Amendment— Dangerous Goods) By-laws, 1951.

Obsolete transit sheds have been replaced by accommodation of
modern design with clear floor space. Work was well advanced for
the provision of covered storage accommodation amounting in all
to 171,000 sq. ft. of which transit space accounts for 75 per cent, in
addition to improvement and expansion of storage for open-air
cargo. The Board also recovered for its own use as storage accom-
modation some 120,000 sq. ft. of shedding previously leased to
Government and private agencies.

Additional berthing space, consisting of ten breasting piers with
cranes was developed on the North side of the Empire Dock for
coastal vessels and ocean lighters.

These additions yielded about 1,000 linear feet of quay with a
minimum depth of water of 12 feet at L.W.O.S.T. provided with
approximately 45,000 sq. ft. of shedding.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 125

In accordance with the policy of introducing additional labour-
aiding equipment for the wharf, orders were placed for fork trucks
with specialised equipment, operated both by battery and gasoline,
low lift stillage trucks, tractors and tracking trailers and mobile
cranes. |

To avoid berthing delays, the Board approved the acquisition of
a powerful new berthing tug and the conversion of the Tolong, one
of the smaller tugs, to twinscrew operation with variable pitch
propellers.

The Board's Dockyards worked to full capacity during the whole
of the year and existing dry dock accommodation again proved
inadequate to meet demands. Whilst normal routine overhauls to
tankers and dry cargo vessels formed the greater part of dockyard
activities, extensive fire damage repairs were carried out on the
tanker Dromus and the construction of a waterboat and buoy and
piling pontoon, both self propelled, was also undertaken.

Improvements to equipment included the conversion from coal to
oil fuel of two boilers in the King's Dock pumping station, the
modernisation of forge furnaces and the placing of an order for two
portal type 10-ton travelling cranes for installation on the repair
berths. |

Approximately 5,298,814 tons of shipping was docked during the
year in the Board's five graving docks.

The total electrical energy distributed over the Board's system
during 1951 exceeded the previous record by 9.5 per cent and of this
about 55 per cent was contributed by the Board's own Power Station.
Additions to this Station included a 3,000 K.W. turbo alternator set
with ancillary equipment.

MARINE DEPARTMENT

50,131 merchant ships and native craft with a total net tonnage of
35,405,701 entered and cleared the Port, an increase of 770 ships and
4,501,071 tons in comparison with 1950. Of the above 24,556 ships of
17,781,203 tons entered and 25,575 ships of 17,624,498 tons cleared
the Port.

Among the vessels which remained on the Singapore Register
were:—

46 steamships .. .. totalling 17,831 tons net.
100 motor ships .. a » 23,173 tons net.
70 sailing ships .. is А 8,125 tons net.
70 motor launches 2% š; 1,094 tons net.

2,672 native sailing craft, cargo
and passenger boats .. is 66,957 tons net.

126 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

A total of 39,578 seamen were signed-on and signed-off in the
Shipping Office during the year as follows:—

Seamen Engaged:—

Europeans 26 si 1,289

Asians.. EE .. 18,381
Seamen Discharged:—

Europeans 2 T 1,324

Asians.. e .. 18,584

These totals show an increase of 78 Europeans and 3,386 Asians
in comparison with 1950. |

Seventy-six distressed British Seamen were received during the
year of whom forty-six were repatriated to their proper return port
and thirty obtained employment in various ships. A further seven
seamen were returned to Singapore, their proper return port.

A total of 977 persons were examined for Deck Certificates of
Competency and Certificates of Efficiency as against 483 in 1950.

Of these 505 were successful, 2 being Master Foreign-going, 3
First Mate Foreign-going, 1 Second Mate Foreign-going, 6 Master
Local Trade, 19 Third Class Gunners, 62 Helmsmen, 381 Steersmen
and 31 Efficiency Lifeboatmen.

On 3rd May, the Report of the Seamen's Inquiry Commission
was released to the public. The alleged malpractices and charges of
corruption made by certain Unions were not substantiated by the
Commission's investigations. Recommendations were made for
certain amendments to the Ordinance and Rules to be implemented
with a view to legalising and enforcing the present method of register-
ing seamen and selecting crews.

Concern has been expressed by both Shipping Agencies and
Unions at the sharp increase during the year of desertions from ships
in U.S. ports by locally engaged Asian seamen, the figure being 120
compared with 7 in 1950.

During the year, 1,730 seamen were registered and employment
was found for 9,084.

At the close of the year, 19,213 seamen were on the books of the
Bureau, of whom 3,185 were listed as untraceable. The majority
of those untraceable were Chinese.

Two Courts of Investigation were held during the year. The Anglo-
Saxon Company's tanker Dromus exploded and caught fire along-
side the Shell Company's Installation at Pulo Bukom, with loss of
twenty lives. By the close of the year, the Court's findings had not
been made public.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 127

The Straits Steamship Company's m.v. Bentong stranded on
Cyrene Shoal in October. The Court recommended that the No. 1
Gunner's Certificate be suspended for six months and the Master
received severe censure. |

Numerous small wrecks in Kallang Basin and the vicinity of
Beach Road and Tanjong Rhu have been removed and demolished
by the Oceania Salvage Company.

The breaking up for scrap of the vessel M.T.S. No. 2 at Sungei
Pandan was completed early in the year.

Little progress has been made on the breaking up of the ex-
Japanese vessels at Tanjong Rhu and Siglap.

The Public Works Department is responsible for the dredging
and routine maintenance of the Singapore River, Kallang River
and Basin, the Rochore River, Telok Ayer Basin, Geylang River,
the Inner Roads of the Singapore Harbour, the approaches to the
Tanjong Rhu Slipway, the Seaplane Channel at Kallang Airport
and the Changi River.

During the year 253,672 cubic yards of dredgings have been
disposed of.

_А new Grab Dredger has been commissioned and is now under-
going tests, and the last of fifteen new Hopper Barges constructed
locally were brought into service in May.

A total of 2,548 linear feet of sea and river walls were recon-
structed during the year, and rehabilitation of timber tenders and
of the substructure at Telok Ayer Basin was in hand.

A new Marine Depót, which will permit all craft belonging to the
Department to be slipped for inspection and repair departmentally,
has been constructed at Kallang Basin, and is expected to result in
considerable economy in cost and time.

The Department is also responsible for all Light houses, Lights
and Beacons in the approaches to Singapore Harbour, and these
were satisfactorily maintained, and in some cases improved, during
the year.

CIVIL AVIATION

Increases in traffic through the Colony's international airport at
Kallang were even greater than had been foreseen. In all there were
4,776 landings, of which 4,532 were accounted for by scheduled
services. Air mail and freight handled exceeded one hundred tons
per week and passenger arrivals and departures totalled 135,605,
increases of 150 per cent and 60 per cent respectively over the figures
for 1950. |

128 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Services on the major international routes were operated by the
British Overseas Airways Corporation and Qantas Empire Airways
between the United Kingdom and Australia, by Royal Dutch Air-
lines between Europe and Indonesia and by Pan-American Airways
between Singapore and the United States via the Philippines. The
national airlines of Ceylon, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and
Thailand all maintained regular services to Singapore.

Malayan Airways Ltd. maintained its excellent reputation for
safety and efficiency with a fleet of eleven ‘Dakota’ aircraft and an
‘Airspeed Consul’. The number of daily scheduled services between
Singapore and the Federation of Malaya was increased and four
services per week wére maintained to Sarawak and North Borneo.
Malayan Airways also provided regular links with Burma, Indonesia,
Thailand and Vietnam.

The very heavy traffic increases placed a considerable strain upon
the Airport administration and on the runway. Shortage of space in
the existing buildings caused some inconvenience to airline operators
and delays in passenger handling. These were overcome to some
extent by improvisation and the willing co-operation of all concerned
pending the construction of a new customs hall and offices in 1952.
The parking apron was enlarged and the runway extended to 6,000
feet, but the condition of the pierced steel plates on parts of the
surface required constant maintenance throughout the year.

These expansions are temporary measures for, while Kallang
airport is adequate for the needs of the regional operator, it cannot
meet the requirements of the long range aircraft of the future, such
as the B.O.A.C. jet engined ‘Comet’ which paid its first visit to Singa-
pore on a trial flight during the year. Following exhaustive investiga-
tions in the two previous years into the possibility of modifying
Kallang and into every alternative site, it was finally decided in 1951
to develop an entirely new international airport at Paya Lebar.
Technical aspects of the scheme were worked out in consultation
with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, preliminary steps were taken to
acquire the land, and a detailed and generous scheme was prepared
and approved for the resettlement of the present occupants at the
expense of the Government. This new airport is being designed to
meet all foreseeable requirements and will be capable of further
extensions should the need ever arise. The overall cost is estimated
to be in the region of $30 millions.

Another most successful Air Day was organised jointly by the
Department of Civil Aviation and the Royal Air Force with the

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 129

ready assistance of the Royal Singapore Flying Club and commercial
airlines. The proceeds of the event amounting to almost $20,000
were donated to charities and youth organisations.

ROADS AND ROAD TRAFFIC
Roads

Responsibility for the maintenance and construction of the
Colony's roads is shared by the City Council and the Public Works
Department. The latter maintained 200.19 miles at a cost of $1,888.52
per mile. 14.36 miles were reconstructed at a cost of approximately
$33,900 per mile and slightly more than 14 miles of a new service
road at Bukit Timah were completed. Approximately 15,000 cubic
yards of granite were extracted from the Department's quarry and
the asphalt plant produced 5,800 cubic yards of bitumen coated
stone. Land was acquired for the construction of a new road along
the East Coast from Tanah Merah Besar to Changi Point which will
be developed by the Rural Board as a swimming and picnic resort.
Plans were also prepared for the deviation of Tampines Road in
conjunction with the new airport scheme and for the widening and
straightening of certain sections of this road.

The City Council maintained 172.22 miles of roads and streets at
a cost of $4,047.50 per mile. The first section of a new dual carriage-
way on Telok Ayer Reclamation was completed at the expense of
the Government and was named Shenton Way. Four new round-
abouts were constructed and the widening of a section of Tanglin
Road was commenced.

Vehicles

The total number of motor vehicles registered rose to 38,331,
almost a quarter of which were new registrations in 1951. Public
omnibus services were provided by 13 separate Companies, the
largest of which operates 50 electric trolley-buses and 258 motor
buses, while the remainder operate 316 motor vehicles. Although
67 additional vehicles were brought into service during the year,
there was still considerable overcrowding during peak hours. There
were 1,537 licensed taxi cabs. The number of bicycles rose to over
120,000 but pedal trishas were reduced by nearly 1,000 to 5,899.

- The heavy overall increase in vehicular traffic added to the already
serious congestion in the central areas of the city, but several schemes
introduced by the Traffic Police and the installation of some auto-
matic traffic lights helped to ease the flow at peak periods. The more
serious aspects of the traffic problem continued to be the accident
rate and parking. The general low level of driving ability and the

130 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

even lower standard of the 'road manners' of drivers, riders and
pedestrians alike are the main reasons for the serious position shown
by the accident statistics given in Chapter X. The increase in acci-
dents was not, however, proportionate to the additional number of
vehicles and there was some reason to believe that the energetic
campaigns of the Police and the Safety First Council were having
effect. The Council organised a Safety First Week and Exhibition
which was very well attended and particular attention was paid to
the education of school children by the Junior Safety First Council.
The parking problem arises largely from the fact that the main
business and shopping centre is concentrated in one comparatively
small area around which there are insufficient car parks. As a result
cars are parked in the adjacent streets, many of which are short and
narrow and are also used by lorries unloading goods at godowns and
shop houses. This in turn leads to further congestion and upsets the
flow of traffic. The Traffic Advisory Committee continued to give
attention to this and many other aspects of the traffic problem.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

The local telephone service has been operated for the past seventy
years by a limited Company under licence from the Government.
In 1951 the latter notified the Company that it would exercise the
option under the terms of the licence to take over the undertaking at
the end of 1954, whereafter the telephone service will be operated
by a Statutory Board.

The main exchange in the heart of the city is linked with five .
satellite exchanges. The number of exchange lines in service was over
14,000 with 8,850 extensions, through which the daily average
number of calls exceeded 300,000. A scheme for an additional 3,500
lines through the central exchange will start in 1952. The Company's
operators handle all trunk calls to and from the Federation of
Malaya and all overseas calls for the two territories.

The trunk telephone and telegraph services between Singapore
and the Federation of Malaya are provided by the Telecommunica-
tions Department on carrier telephone and voice frequency telegraph
systems operating on openline wires. The existing 32 trunks were
inadequate for the demand, but a 12 channel carrier system due to
come into service in 1952 and the installation of V.H.F. multi-
channel radio equipment now on order will remedy this situation.
A 120 pair trunk cable was laid between Singapore and Johore
Bahru and a 78 pair cable, linking the Telecommunication and other
Government Departments with the wireless transmitter station at
Jurong, was completed.

Coconut Palm Landscape, Chinese scroll painting by Chen Ah Seng
(Yeung Ching School), aged 14 years

Public Relations
The Comet jet-engined airliner paid its first visit to Kallang Airport on a
visiting flight in October 1951

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Public Relations

A section of the Main Telegraph Office in the Department of Telecommunica-

tions showing duplex teleprinter operating positions for up-country circuits.
There are in all sixty-eight teleprinters in operation

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 131

The public teleprinter service for subscribers in Singapore and
the principal towns of the Federation of Malaya has been well
patronised by the leading business concerns and press organisations
and it is proposed to expand these facilities.

The overseas radiotelephone service to the United Kingdom and
Hong Kong was extended to Australia and tests were being carried
out with a view to providing links with the United States, the Philip-
pines, North Borneo, New Zealand and Ceylon.

High frequency wireless telegraph services are provided to the
Federation of Malaya, Sarawak, Brunei, Christmas Island and
Thailand. Other external telegraph services are operated by Cable
& Wireless Ltd. The Department of Telecommunications also
maintains the international ship-to-shore service on medium and
high frequency, augmented by a short range radio telephone service
for coastal vessels, and also provides all aeradio and meteorological
requirements. These included point to point internal and external
circuits, two air /ground /air wireless telegraph guards and long and
short range radio telephone to aircraft day and night. As regards
radio navigational aids, a medium frequency beacon is in continuous
operation as is also a responder beacon in the 200 Mc/s band. A
Very High Frequency Direction Finding service is available through-
out the 24 hours. For meteorological reports five receivers are in
continuous operation and synoptic reports are broadcast through-
out the 24 hours together with a sub-area broadcast to planes.

A combined V.H.F. radio network for four lighthouses and five
Customs launches was brought into service. More of the City Coun-
cil's accident service ambulances were fitted with V.H.F. mobile sets
and equipment was ordered to extend this type of service to the
Immigration Department and the City Council Water Department.
The Mount Faber V.H.F. Station has been completed and will be
the Singapore Relay Station for the Singapore/Federation V.H.F.
multi channel radio telephone trunk system. It will also acco-
mmodate the “main” stations for all local V.H.F. radio networks
together with area and approach control for the Singapore Air
Traffic Control Centre (Department of Civil Aviation).

There was again an increase in the number of licences issued for
the operation of V.H.F. and amateur radio stations; these totalled
141 and 39 respectively at the end of 1951. Radio dealers increased
from 295 to 337 and licences were also issued for 33 ship and 11 air-
craft stations. 113 radio installations on ships were surveyed under
the Merchant Shipping Ordinance.

132 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

POSTAL COMMUNICATIONS

Social and economic progress were reflected in the new records
created in all fields of Post Office activity.

The increased air services to and from the Federation of Malaya
were utilised to the maximum advantage for the conveyance of first
class correspondence, air parcels and specially prepaid second class
mail. As regards international air mail services, second class cor-
respondence facilities were made available to sixty-seven additional
countries in December and the first air parcel services to overseas
destinations were also introduced in that month. The latter were
limited to five destinations but expansion is expected in the near
future. The number of air services to the United Kingdom was
increased and accelerated during the year but in December the
reduction of available flights from seven to four per week had a
detrimental effect although the actual flying time was reduced.

Increases of 13 per cent in the number of ordinary items of air
mail correspondence forwarded and 21 per cent in the number of
items received were recorded. In order to ensure efficient and rapid
handling of air mail traffic new equipment was provided in the air
mail section of the Mails Branch, General Post Office, Singapore,
and extensive internal re-organisation undertaken. The latest time
of posting at the General Post Office, Singapore, was extended from
6 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. to connect with air despatches to all destinations.

Approximately 4,000 ships carried surface mails to and from
Singapore during the year; 2,500 were used for the despatch of mail.
The majority of mail forwarded by sea was for overseas destinations
but a small percentage was for the East Coast districts of the Federa-
tion of Malaya. Train Mail services to the Federation of Malaya and
Siam operated as usual notwithstanding the emergency conditions
but were subjected to frequent delays as a result of bandit activity.
Recorded figures of posted correspondence for surface transmission
showed an increase of 4 per cent over the 1950 figures. It was esti-
mated that an average of 50,000 items of surface correspondence
are posted in Singapore daily. Correspondence received by surface
means increased by 12 per cent with an estimated 16,000 items
handled daily. Parcel traffic, both despatched and received, increased
considerably culminating in a record despatch of Christmas postings
consisting of 19,000 parcels contained in 4,042 bags.

A feature of post-war years has been the increased local observance
of the Christmas custom of exchanging greetings cards and special
arrangements have had to be made to cope both with Christmas
pressure and also with the increasing traffic in greetings cards for

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 133

Chinese New Year and Malay festivals. Public co-operation in
response to appeals to post early helped considerably in these
difficult periods. |

Continued publicity was given to encourage the use of the postal
district number system. Public response was somewhat slow but
some success was achieved.

The Senior staff position permitted more attention to be given to
enquiries regarding the loss, delay and mistreatment of correspond-
ence and parcels. This resulted in the detection and prosecution of
individuals concerned in particular cases and a marked decrease in.
the incidence of loss and mistreatment was evident.

Full postal facilities were afforded at twenty-one Post Offices
throughout the Colony and restricted postal facilities at four Postal
Agencies. The former Postal Agencies at Christmas Island and Bukit.
Panjang were converted to full Post Offices in October and two new
Agencies, one at Pasir Panjang and one at Tiong Bahru, were opened
in October and November respectively. Plans were in hand for the
opening of additional Agencies in parts of the rural area which are
being rapidly developed as both industrial and residential centres.
The Post Office at Serangoon Road was the scene of an armed
robbery on 22nd March when armed bandits entered the office; held
up the Postmaster and his assistant, removed all cash and attempted
to burn the office. The attempt was frustrated and the total loss
involved was less than one thousand dollars.

Seven new posting boxes were installed during the year bringing
the total number of posting boxes available in the Colony up to 128.
The installation of more than twenty others for the rural districts
was held up by delayed delivery. |

Savings Bank transactions averaging 23,000 per month were
effected, an increase of more than 40 per cent over the 1950 figure. On
2nd July His Excellency the Governor in a broadcast talk launched
the most ambitious and successful Savings Bank Campaign ever
conducted in the Colony. During the peak period of the campaign
transactions increased by over 100 per cent and up to the end of the
year deposits exceeded withdrawals by nearly $44 millions and.
18,000 new accounts were opened.

Money Order facilities were extended by the introduction of
telegraph money order services to Sarawak and Brunei. Transac-
tions increased from an average of 12,000 per month in 1950 to
17,000.

Air Mail Insured Box facilities were introduced in September to
the United Kingdom, Sarawak, North Borneo and Brunei. There
was a long waiting list for private boxes of which there were 1,800

134 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

at the General Post Office with an additional hundred boxes under
the delivery-ticket system. Lack of space prevented an increase in
the number of boxes.

Two Asian officers returned from a special two-year course of
training in the British Post Office and were appointed as Cadet
Assistant Controllers of Posts for a probationary period of two
years.

An intensified recruiting campaign was successful in attracting
sufficient clerical recruits to the service to fill most of the vacancies
in the establishment. The success of the campaign removed a diffi-
culty which at one time threatened the efficient maintenance of
postal services. As a stop-gap measure Post Office pensioners were
re-employed on a temporary basis. Applicants with the necessary
educational qualifications for appointment as Postmen were fewer
than in previous years but the majority of vacancies were filled by
the end of the year. The Postal Services Joint Committee held four
meetings during the year and discussions were conducted in an
atmosphere of understanding and harmony which resulted in a large
measure of accord being reached on the many problems discussed.
Within the framework of the Whitley organisation a number of
ad hoc committees were formed to discuss various specialized and
technical staff problems connected with the re-organisation of the
Mails and Counter Branches.

XIII

Arts and Sciences

—— M —M——À——— — rJr K n —— —————————————

THE FINE ARTS

HE MOST important single events in the field of fine arts during the

year were again exhibitions of the Singapore Art Society. Equally
notable was the clear indication that in general the production and
appreciation of art in all the forms of drawing, painting and pic-
torial photography is extending rapidly. The only group exhibitions
of importance in 1950 were five held by the Singapore Art Society,
and the fourth annual exhibition of the Y.M.C.A. Art Club. In 1951
the Singapore Art Society staged seven group and open exhibitions,
while the Y.M.C.A. Art Club continued, and the Society of Chinese
Artists, the Nanyang Academy and the Malay Society of Art (the
rejuvenated edition of the former Malay Art Class) resumed, their
annual exhibitions. All of these were well attended, while several of
the Singapore Art Society's exhibitions drew crowds of upwards of
5—6,000 people during their nine-day runs. A most gratifying feature
of the latter was the increasing number of art teachers who took
selected groups of their senior pupils on critical tours of these exhi-
bitions: the practice deserves every encouragement, and it is to be
hoped that it will spread still further.

The Singapore Art Society’s second open exhibition was held in
April. 195 pieces, contributed by 66 artists, were on show, including
two heads cast in plaster by Mrs. A. Gunaratnam. The artists re-
presented included Chen Wen Hsi, Prof. Tan-Nung Chang, Chong
Soo Pieng, Liu Kang and Dr. Clyde, and the general level was high
throughout. The Society’s October exhibition, restricted to work by
local teachers and art students, stood out as the best displayed ex-
hibition of paintings put on during the year. The student element
consisted largely of work from the Nanyang Academy, with a small
contribution from the Malay College at Tanjong Malim. One of the
water colours of Kampong Kuchan exhibited by 'Che Suri bin
Mohyani is reproduced in this volume. |

136 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The Society of Chinese Artists and the Nanyang Academy held
their exhibitions in March and July. Both were of considerable in-
terest, particularly the scroll paintings at the March exhibition. The
fifth annual exhibition of the Y.M.C.A. Art Club was held at the
beginning of October: it contained about 190 paintings, submitted
by 21 artists, including T. Y. Choy, Lim Cheng Hoe, Roy Morrell,
Lucia Kidder and Mrs. V. S. Teh. The Malay exhibition, held in
February, included an oil painting by the Society's secretary, 'Che
Mohd. Salehuddin, new works by ’Che Suri bin Mohyani, and
several attractive water-colours by teachers from Kedah.

The Singapore Art Society's tenth Inter-School Art Exhibition
was held in the Victoria Memorial Hall in May. A total of 1,203
pieces, including needlework and handcrafts as well as painting and
calligraphy, was received from 67 competing schools. Of these 740
examples were placed on show.

The two most successful exhibitions of paintings during the year
were two four-men shows put on by the Singapore Art Society, the
first in August and the second in November. The August exhibition,
which was arranged with the help of Mr. Tan Tze Chor, was devoted
to works by Chao Shao An, a famous Shanghai scroll painter now
living in Hong Kong, and three fellow refugees. The November ex-
hibition consisted of works by Liu Kang, Chen Chong Swee, Chen
Wen Hsi and Chong Soo Pieng, the four leading Chinese painters
now working in Singapore: about half the pictures were scrolls, and
the remainder oils or water-colours in the western manner. À parti-
cularly interesting feature of this exhibition, two pictures from which
are reproduced in Colour in this Report, was the significant mixture
of the styles and idioms of East and West. Both these exhibitions
attracted large numbers of visitors, and buyers. The first resulted
in the sale of $6,800 worth of paintings, and the second of $9,800
worth, a record for the Colony at an exhibition where the works
were for sale on their own merits, and not for charity. Together
they helped to carry the total received for the sale of paintings at
exhibitions staged by the Singapore Art Society in the last two
years to over $25,000, a figure which shows clearly that at the present
time people in Singapore are interested enough in local work to buy
it as well as to go to see it.

EXHIBITIONS OF APPLIED ARTS

In July the Singapore Art Society broke new ground in staging
a full-scale definitive exhibition of contemporary Malay arts and
crafts, under the direction of C. A. Gibson-Hill, A. H. Hill and 'Che
Suri bin Mohyani. This was the first time that such an exhibition

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 137

had been attempted since the Malaya-Borneo Exhibition of the
early nineteen-twenties. In addition to a carefully selected display
of all the work now being produced, the organizers gave short
accounts of the methods and materials employed, fully illustrated
with a series of photographs of craftsmen at work. Much of this
latter material was also incorporated in a booklet published by the
Society, which provides the only comprehensive survey of Malay
arts and crafts yet written. A number of the selected exhibits have
since found a permanent home in the Raffles Museum, while the
detailed information acquired in the course of collecting and analys-
ing them will be used in the preparation of a full-scale monograph
on Malay Arts and Crafts to appear as a Journal of the Malayan
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1952.

Chinese calligraphy was celebrated during the year by an exhibi-
tion by Wan Wing Sum, the ‘lynx-eyed calligraphist’ of Canton.
This was easily one of the most remarkable displays of its kind ever
held in Singapore. Wan Wing Sum writes in about a dozen styles,
and among other achievements much respected by connoisseurs,
is able to place a thousand characters, all perfectly formed, on the
back of an ordinary postage stamp. In the early part of the year the
Chinese Y.M.C.A. held its third annual calligraphy competition for
students in middle and primary schools. À record number of over
400 pupils took part in the competition. This is interesting in show-
ing that though the leading Chinese painters in the Colony are now
much influenced by western art, and the proportion of pictures in
the western style contributed to the Inter-School Art Exhibitions
increases yearly, there is still a considerable practice of Chinese
calligraphy as an art for its own sake.

There were two important exhibitions of photographs during the
year. The Singapore Art Society held its second Open Exhibition in
January, which on this occasion attracted fifteen entrants (submit-
ting a total of sixty pictures) from abroad. In all the Society received
455 prints sent in by 120 photographers, an increase of over 60 per
cent on the previous year. The standard was high, and the exhibition
proved a considerable success locally. Even more, as the exhibition
held in January 1952 showed, it inspired the confidence of first-class
workers outside the Colony. The 1952 exhibition is not within the
scope of the present report, except that its achievement, the receipt
of 769 prints from 212 exhibitors, of whom 90 were from abroad
and included some of the leading workers in Hong Kong, South
China, India, England and the U.S.A., was the direct result of the
quality of the 1951 exhibition, and the zeal of its organizers in
giving it publicity outside Malaya.

138 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The Singapore Art Society also sponsored an interesting exhibi-
tion of over 180 prints by Derrick Knight, A.R.P.S., who had been
making a pictorial record of South-East Asia on behalf of the Shell
Company. His work is of a high quality technically, apart from the
interest of his subjects, and like the foreign entries in the Open Ex-
hibition it was of considerable value to local workers in showing the
standard at which they should aim. Finally the Singapore Camera
Club, founded in 1950, held its first quarterly exhibitions in 1951,
and by the end of the year had over 160 members. The affairs of the
soclety appear to be in the hands of an enthusiastic and able group
of people, and it seems probable that much will arise from it.

THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

Mention should be made here of the Government Printing Office,
which hitherto has received no notice in these reports, though both
the present volume and its predecessor provide eloquent testimony
of the merit of the work done by the Department. Since the war the
Office has studied the design of each official publication, with the
aim of making it as attractive as possible within the limits of de-
partmental formats. The recent Annual Reports of the Colony are
proof that the attempts to break way from the set typography of
pre-war years have met with considerable success.

The Government Printing Office provides two distinct services.
It acts as a “common service department’ in supplying office machi-
nery, stationery and printed matter to other Government Depart-
ments, and as the agent of any or all of the branches of Government
in publishing and retailing documents, including reports of all kinds,
for limited circulation or for the general public.

In the past year further attempts have been made to train local
operatives in multi-colour pictorial reproduction. In addition new
type designs and machines have been installed, which should allow
still further improvements in the quality of official publications from
the printer's point of view.

DRAMA

There was considerably less activity in the theatre world in 1951
than there had been in the previous two years, and Singapore's small
but determined audience of play-goers missed John Forbes Sempill's
Repertory Company sadly. Nevertheless, even if performance was
limited, the air remained bright with promise. June saw one of the
outstanding productions of the post-war period in the form of
Christopher Fry's 7he Lady's Not For Burning. This was staged

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 | 139

under the direction of Donald Moore who subsequently, in October,
founded a possible successor to the Sempill Company under the
name of the Singapore Arts Theatre, with Peter Ruff, Terence
Coates, Seow Cheng Fong and David Lyttle as his co-directors.
By the end of the year membership, nearly a third of which is Asian,
had passed the 200-mark.

The Singapore Arts Theatre is not a professional company, al-
though several of its more active members are professionals: the
founders' aim is to provide an amateur theatre movement for all
those of every community interested in western drama. Its fate will
probably be determined in 1952, but it can certainly be said to have
begun well, and to command the leading talent at present available
in the Colony.

The Singapore Arts Theatre was a natural development from a
production of Jean Anouilh's Ardele, which took place in August
1951. This was originally to have been staged by the Little Theatre
Players in Armenian Street, but its subject, and the manner of its
treatment, caused considerable controversy, and it was eventually
produced at the Victoria Memorial Theatre by an independent group
of players under the direction of Donald Moore. The cast included
David Lyttle, Dorothy Morrell, Gerard Dynevor, Mary Baxter and
Joan Angel. The Arts Theatre's only performance under its own
name was Ruth and Augustus Goetz's play The Heiress based on
the novel Washington Square by Henry James. This played to full
houses in the Victoria Memorial Theatre for three nights in Decem-
ber, with audiences that were 80 per cent Asian.

The Little Theatre Players staged several productions during 1951.
Reference has already been made to the most notable of these, The
Lady's Not For Burning, which received some of the most enthu-
siastic notices given in the local press in recent years, and proved
so successful in box office appeal that its run was extended into a
second week. Other Little Theatre productions during the year were
Mary Hayley Bell's Men in Shadow, Shaw's Pygmalion and Priestley's.
An Inspector Calls.

Nothing appeared under the auspices of the Teachers’ Repertory
Theatre in 1951, but there was a revival of the Stage Club, which
put on You Can’t Take It With You and Somerset Maugham’s
Home and Beauty. The only remaining production of note was a
version of the old favourite Lady Precious Stream, which was played
at the Victoria Theatre in December by members of the St. Andrew’s
School Old Boys Association: well staged and acted, and beautifully

dressed, it proved once again that this play can still attract consider-

able audiences.

140 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

FILMS

During 1951, Malaya continued to be one of the world's largest
users of film of all kinds. A heavy increase was marked in the im-
portation of 16mm entertainment films, both features and shorts.
8mm entertainment films were also imported.

Local production of feature films was confined to Malay “bets
It is noteworthy that the number of such productions increased, and
the improvement in production quality was most marked. Several
new companies were formed and it is expected that 1952 will see a
‘steady increase in local production. The report and recommendations
of the Film Censorship Committee set up in 1950 were submitted to
Government during 1951.

MUSIC

Music-making, like the practice of the fine arts and photography,
continued to expand over new ground during the year. As in the case
of the visual arts the encouraging and healthy sign is the quantity
and quality of work produced, and it is this rather than the attend-
ance at public concerts, gratifying as this has been, which merits
attention. The single item of special note was clearly the advent of
the Singapore Chamber Ensemble, which has been acclaimed as one
of the most important musical events in the country in the last ten
years.

1951 was a signally full year of activity for all the various local
musical organizations. In January the Singapore Music Circle pre-
sented a recital of chamber music featuring piano trios by Mendels-
sohn, Beethoven and Chausson. In March the Singapore Musical
Society sponsored the visit of Lola Bobesco and Jacques Genty, who
gave three very memorable concerts, while in May the Junior Sym-
phony Orchestra and the Teachers’ Choral Society again provided
а concert to mark the conclusion of Education Week. The latter gave
most successful performances of two quite different works, Brahm's
Song of Destiny and the How Lovely are Thy Dwellings from his
Requiem. The Junior Symphony Orchestra showed a great improve-
ment in their standard of playing in presenting the whole of the
C Major Symphony (No. 1) by Beethoven. Included in the same pro-
gramme were Beethoven's Overture to Coriolanus and the first move-
ment of the Mozart Pianoforte Concerto in A Major (K. 488).

In June the Singapore Musical Society achieved its greatest success
artistically with a most admirable production of Elgar's Music
Makers. The following month the Singapore Chamber Ensemble,
which had its origin in a small string combination brought together

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 141

by Paul Abisheganaden to play incidental music for the 1950 pro-
duction of Richard II, gave its first public concert. This immedi-
ately established it as an important part of the pattern of orchestral
activity in the Colony. The Chamber Ensemble meets regularly for
the study of chamber music and works for string orchestra, with or
without solo wind instruments and piano. Bach's Brandenburg Con-
certo No. 5 and Elgar's Serenade for Strings were included in the
Ensemble's first concert. Later in the year, in September, it sponsored
a pianoforte recital by Dr. Thomas Fielden, Professor at the Royal
College of Music and Examiner to the Associated Board of the
Royal Schools of Music. In November the Ensemble appeared before
the public again itself, when it gave a concert together with its newly
formed Cantata Choir: the principal items were Bach's Sleepers
Wake! and his Piano Concerto in F Minor, and Mozart's Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik. Finally in December the Ensemble made another valu-
able contribution to music in Singapore when it sponsored two
violin recitals by Leo Cherniavsky.

Earlier, on 28th September, one of the many echoes of the Festival
in Britain had its expression in a stirring and impressive concert-
pageant in Singapore at which members of the Combined Schools
Choir and the Junior Symphony Orchestra joined with the band of
the 1st Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders and the Fanfare Trum-
peters of the 12th Royal Lancers. The 300 strong Combined Schools
Choir, accompanied by a full orchestra and military band, excelled
itself in the singing of Jerusalem and the air from Elgar's Pomp and
Circumstance No. 1, while the string section of the Junior Symphony
Orchestra lent colour and atmosphere to the occasion with typically
English music, playing Purcell's Suite for Strings (arr. Barbirolli).
The year's musical activity was brought to a fitting close with the
Singapore Musical Society's production of Handel's Messiah at
Christmas. Е

Much very good work was also done in the schools, the most im-
portant point at which to extend the practice and appreciation of
any art. The Children's Orchestra, which was formed the previous
year as a nursery to the Junior Symphony Orchestra, continued to
make steady progress, and by the end of 1951 a few members had
developed sufficiently to earn their promotion to the J.S.O. In addi-
tion to the concerts given primarily for schools by this and other
organizations means were also found of providing special concerts
covering most of the celebrity items available to the public, or of
allowing the attendance of selected numbers of school children under
privileged conditions. In this way the children were able to hear

142 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Elgar's Music Makers, works like the Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
and Elgar's and Warlock's Suites for Strings, in addition to the
various international artists who passed through Singapore during
the year.

Finally it was notable that more schools formed choral groups in
1951, while from among the established choirs, those of the Convent
of the Holy Infant Jesus, St. Anthony's Convent and Rangoon Road
School each gave twenty minute broadcasts during the year. In
May the Chinese Y.M.C.A. sponsored a keenly contested piano
competition for school children: twelve prizes were awarded and the
winners gave a joint recital in the Victoria Memorial Hall. 1951 also
saw, as a first step in the scheme for the introduction of instrumental
music in schools, the institution of violin classes in six selected
schools. The classes consist of small groups of four or five students
and the lessons are given after school hours by approved violin
teachers. It is hoped that when the violin classes are fairly well es-
tablished it will be possible to begin classes in the viola and cello.
A good start has been made: if progress is maintained this new ven-
ture should lead towards a much increased participation in collec-
tive music making.

RAFFLES MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

Two sections of the Museum exhibition galleries received specia]
attention during the year. The extensive display of objects illus-
trating the material culture of the Malays was largely re-organized.
Parts of it were also expanded considerably by the addition of selec-
ted material from the exhibition of contemporary Malay Arts and
Crafts sponsored by the Singapore Art Society in July. Cases have
now been arranged illustrating a number of activities, including mat-
making, basket work and other forms of plaiting, weaving, the dye-
ing and printing of cloth, metal-work, pottery, agriculture and fish-
ing and boat-building. As far as possible the displays include sets of
photographs showing the methods employed in the different crafts,
together with short descriptions of the processes involved.

The geology section was entirely re-arranged by Dr. (Mrs.) F. E. S.
Alexander. The greater part of it as it now stands is devoted to the
economic geology of Malaya, Christmas Island and Borneo. The
exhibits include distribution maps of the occurrence in Malaya of
ores of tin, gold, iron, tungsten, manganese and aluminium, to-
gether with specimens of ores and photographs of mining methods.
There are also specimens illustrating the general geology of the
country, together with a comprehensive geological map. Diagrams

P uL ILÁ————À ——

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 143

of the structure of the earth and mountain building, and a series of
progressively scaled columns illustrating the extent of geological
time, form an introduction to the exhibit.

Extra-departmental assistance of great value in another field was
rendered by the voluntary work of an enthusiastic amateur numis-
matist, F. Pridmore, B.N.s. The reference collection of coins was well
on the way to being completely re-catalogued and arranged, and a
start was made in grouping the display sections in an attractive and
informative manner.

No major zoological collecting expeditions were made by the
staff during the year, but the willing co-operation of institutions in
the Federation of Malaya added several important items to the re-
ference collections. C. S. Ogilvie, game-warden in charge of the King
George V National Park, continued to send consignments of fresh-
water fish from the River Tembeling. His methodical collecting
during 1950 and 1951 revealed six species not previously known to
occur in Malaya. He also recorded the Malay names of a large
number of his specimens, and thus made it possible for these to be
correlated with the species far more precisely than hitherto.

The space devoted to housing the Colony's archives had to be
decreased during the year, but use of them by the public, and parti-
cularly by students of the University, increased considerably. Re-
quests for information came, as usual, from near and far, and
included one from the Hoover Institute of Washington.

The appointment of Miss Louise Bridges early in 1951 made the
services of a fully qualified librarian available to Raffles Library for
the first time since 1935. A number of changes, both in actual ar-
rangement and in administration, were put into effect. The ground
floor (Fiction) department was completely re-arranged, and the wall
shelving of books substituted for stack shelving. In this way a brighter
and more spacious appearance was produced without any sacrifice
of shelf-room. Coir matting laid on the cement floor has done much
to decrease noise, and a number of items of furniture were added,
including cane arm-chairs, racks for the display of periodicals and
book-trucks to increase speed and accuracy in the work of shelving
books. In the non-fiction department the reference section was com-
pletely re-organized: all encyclopaedias, dictionaries, directories
and works of this kind were brought together and disposed on each
side of a table with chairs to facilitate their use.

A system of fining subscribers who keep books out beyond the
prescribed period was initiated. This has resulted in a decrease in
the loss of books and an increase in the availability of popular books

144 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

to all readers. In the Main Lending Library membership expanded
by rather over 500 to a round figure of 4,000. Membership of the
Junior Library increased by well over a thousand and actually ex-
ceeded that of the Main Library, but many of the 4,118 children who
Joined the Junior Library maintained their membership for only
part of the year. Circulation figures of books issued to subscribers
were recorded each month and showed a steady increase throughout
the year.

The Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society published
three numbers of its Journal during the year: these with a fourth
part which was unfortunately delayed until early in 1952, form
Volume 24 of the Branch's publications. The complete volume con-
tains over 620 pages, and includes papers or notes by 26 different
authors. One of the parts is devoted to a biography of Yap Ah Loy,
Capitan China of Kuala Lumpur from 1869 to 1885, written by the
late S. M. Middlebrook, and completed by J. M. Gullick and C. A.
Gibson-Hill; and another to five short diaries by the late Sir Frank
Swettenham, recording official journeys in Perak in the period
1874—76, edited, with a full introduction, by C. D. Cowan.

Papers relating to Singapore or its immediate neighbourhood
include an account of the small boats of the Rhio and Lingga Archi-
pelagos by C. A. Gibson-Hill, notes on local boat launching cere-
monies by Syed Abu Bakar and Teo Teng Hong, and summaries of
the occasional rites performed by Singapore Cantonese by Marjorie
Topley. Membership of the branch stood at 703 at the close of the
year, as compared with 620 at the end of 1950 and 508 in 1941: the
membership for 1951 is the second highest recorded since the first
local branch was established in 1878.

BOTANY AND HORTICULTURE

Botanical research, as in previous years, was severely restricted
by the Emergency and by shortage of senior staff. One collecting trip
to Penang was undertaken, which resulted in the discovery of no
fewer than fourteen plants not previously recorded from the island,
of which four were also additions to the flora of Malaya.

Volume 13, part 2, of the Gardens' Bulletin, Singapore, was pub-
lished during the year. In it several plants new to science were des-
cribed, including a Vanilla from Johore and three climbing palms or
rattans. Included in this number was a revision, by Professor R. E.
Holttum, of the Malayan members of the Maranta family, a group
of plants more common in the tropics of the New World than the

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 145

Old, related to the Cannas and the Gingers, and from which Arrow-.
root starch is derived. Part 3 of Malayan Wild Flowers, by M. R.
Henderson, was published by the Malayan Nature Society, thus
completing the account of the Dicotyledons. The series of small
booklets on Malayan Garden Plants was continued by the publi-.
cation of No. 4, containing illustrations of ten climbers.

At least one plant of considerable horticultural interest was in-
troduced during the year. This was a white Bougainvillea which was.
obtained from Durban. This white variety has been known to exist
for many years, but previous attempts to obtain it had failed. It has
flowered well as a pot plant and attracted favourable attention when
displayed in the 1951 Flower Show. It grows vigorously when planted
out, but it remains to be seen whether it will prove free flowering.
under these conditions. Another interesting introduction was a
white Saintpaulia, sent out from Kew. These plants are easy to grow:
and are very decorative.

Towards the end of the year experiments were started in growing
vegetables and other herbaceous plants under conditions rather
different from those generally accepted as necessary. Instead of
digging raised beds and manuring them, the ground was firmed and
a two-inch layer of compost packed on the top, in which the seed-.
lings were planted. Long beans grown in such beds proved more
vigorous, maturing earlier and giving a heavier crop than those in
normal beds. The initial experiments are promising enough to make
it worth while extending them to other crops and to herbaceous
flowering plants.

About fifteen new orchid hybrids were named and descriptions.
drawn up ready for publication. Not every hybrid that comes to
flowering is considered worthy of this attention and in fact many
are destroyed when it is evident that they do not have qualities that
entitle them to continued life. A handsome new hybrid between
Vanda Dearei and Arachnis flos-aeris var. insignis flowered for the.
first time a few days before Singapore became a city and was appro-
priately named Aranda City of Singapore. Surplus orchid seedlings,
of known parentage, but as yet unflowered, found ready purchasers
amongst local orchid fanciers.

The yearly Flower Show, organized by the Singapore Gardening
Society and held at the end of March, continues to attract large
numbers of people and to display a great variety of well-grown
plants, amongst which the orchids take pride of place. An additional
feature of the 1951 Show was the provision, by the Agricultural
Department, of a small vegetable garden with local vetetables grow-
ing in neat beds surrounded by closely mown grass paths.

146 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

APPENDIX A

COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELFARE SCHEMES, 1951

Statement showing amounts allotted and expended from
the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund

i pe
ture from
Scheme : Total
No. Title of Scheme Grant к
31-12-51
£ £
R. 372 & | Sociological Research 24 б 4,715 1,698
К. 3724
D. 1431 | School Medical and Dental Clinic 2 23,335 |
D. 1316 | Broadcasting—Purchase of Community |
Receiving Sets .. s 3e 8,275 2,350
D. 1493 | Infant Welfare Cups cba Меш
Department)... 15,750 3,125
D. 1476 | Expansion of Leper Settlement - 72,800 18,465
D. 1632 | Aeronautical Communications ба 18,000 s3
R. 440 Fisheries Regional Research Laboratory .. ' 260,000 115
D. 1593 | Girls’ Hostel/Club ¿š V 17,500
Boys' Hostel six Es iu 17,500
|
D. 1678 | Infant Welfare Clinics—Three (City
Council) : ^ 42,234
Total .. | 480,109 | 25,153

Note:—]n addition to the above expenditure under the Colonial Development
and Welfare Act, the Singapore Government spent some £2,200,000 on capital
development projects during 1951.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951

APPENDIX B

I—INTOXICATING LIQUORS DUTIES

Item

*Unit

Full

DUTIES

Pre-
ference

147

Excise

w | --..-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | — |...

Rectified spirit
Brandy

Brandy in bottle not exceeding 81 Pe
cent proof spirit à

Rum and Gin

: Rum and Gin in bottle not exceeding

81 per cent proof spirit
Whisky

Whisky in bottle not eee 81
per cent proof spirit

Other intoxicating liquors

Toddy-arrack, Saki, Pineapple spirit
and samsu (including Medicated
Samsu) й T

Bitters and Liqueurs not exceeding
100 per cent proof spirit

Sparkling wines not exceeding 42 pet
cent proof spirit

Still wines exceeding 26 per cent but
not exceeding 42 pe cent роо!
spirit

Still wines not сати 26 per cent
proof spirit ;

Ale, Beer, Stout, Porter, Cider and
Perry ;

*p.g. — proof gallon.

p.g.
p.g.

g. =раПоп.

30 00

15 00

7 50 |

2 40

43 75

18 75

2 40

148 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

APPENDIX B—continued

II—TOBACCO DUTIES

tainers of any kind (ог retail sale (о the

public .. 2 T€ .. | perlb. | 690| 6 70
5 | Manufactured tobacco (excluding cigars, ciga-

rettes and snuff)— not otherwise provided for | per lb. | 2 50

PART THREE

Digitized by Google

XIV

Geography and Climate

HE COLONY of Singapore consists of Singapore Island itself, with
j adjacent islets, and Christmas Island and the Cocos-
Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean.

SINGAPORE ISLAND

Singapore Island is situated off the southern extremity of the
Malay Peninsula to which it is joined by a causeway carrying a road
and railway. The straits between the island and mainland are about
three-quarters of a mile wide. The island is some 26 miles in length
and 14 miles in breadth, and about 224.5 square miles in area, in-
cluding the adjacent islets. The town of Singapore is situated on the
southern side of the island, in latitude 1° 17” North and longitude
103° 50' East. For administrative purposes the municipal area (31.5
square miles) is distinct from the remainder, or Rural Board area.
The former is primarily residential and commercial and the latter
predominantly agricultural, though housing and industrial develop-
ment is proceeding at a rapid rate outside the municipal boundaries.

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Christmas Island lies in the eastern portion of the Indian Ocean
between latitudes 10° 25’ and 10° 34’ South, and longitudes 105° 34’
and 105° 46’ East. It is approximately 190 miles south of Java Head
and 530 miles east of the Cocos-Keeling Islands. The epithet is not
distinctive, and there is at least one other island of the same name—a
large atoll in the tropical Pacific which was discovered and named
by Captain Cook.

Christmas Island has an area of about 64 square miles, with a
maximum length from east to west of 13 miles, and. from north to
south of 114 miles. The greater part is occupied by a central plateau,
600 to 700 feet above sea level, rising in three places to low hills with

152 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

maximum altitudes of 970, 1,060 and 1,170 feet. Round the edge it
descends to the sea in a succession of terraces, separated by steep
slopes or sheer cliffs. Initially the whole surface of the island was
densely wooded, and even at the present time little of it has been
cleared.

The island is composed entirely of a covering of coral limestone,
the oldest portions of which date from the Eocene period, lying on
a basis of basalt. It would seem to have been formed on the shattered
cone of a long-extinct volcano. Originally this must have been com-
pletely submerged but with its highest portions, represented now by
the three hill areas, sufficiently near to the surface for coral to grow
and cover them. Subsequently it rose from the sea in a series of jerks,
each separated by a pause long enough to allow the sections still in
shallow water to acquire a fresh fringing reef.

The deposits of mixed phosphates, to which the island owes its
economic importance, occur in three areas, each adjacent to one of
the hills on the plateau. They must have been laid down initially in
the form of guano, under conditions similar to those still occurring
off the coasts of Peru and Chili—a scanty rainfall, and a great abund-
ance of sea birds, far exceeding the interesting but modest numbers
now present on the island. At this period the island must have lacked
its present scanty covering of 'soil' and have been almost devoid of
vegetation. The guano filled in the valleys between the irregular
limestone ridges, where it now lies under a layer of six to ten feet of
earth. The subsequent increase in rainfall has failed to wash it away,
but in the presence of moisture it has entered into combination with
the rock dust permeating it, forming a mixture of phosphates,
mostly with calcium as the base, in place of the original crude guano.

THE COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS

The Cocos-Keeling Islands lie between latitudes 11? 49' and 12?
12’ South and longitudes 96° 49’ and 96° 56’ East. They are approxi-
mately 600 miles south-west of Java Head, and 530 miles from
Christmas Island, the nearest point of land. The group consists of
a low-lying atoll of about 25 islands surrounding a pear-shaped
lagoon, 7 miles wide and 9 miles long, and a single, isolated island
(North Keeling), 1,250 yards wide and 2,250 yards long, situated
fifteen miles further north. The main atoll was visited by Darwin,
who spent ten days there at the beginning of April, 1836: he was then
formulating his theory of the origin of coral islands, and Cocos is
of some interest in that it was the only atoll which he ever examined
personally.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 153

The largest island in the main atoll (Pulau Panjang or West Island)
is 5 miles long and about 2 furlongs wide, the smallest bun-shaped,
with a diameter of about 50 yards. Only two islands have important
settlements. One of these, Pulau Selma or Home Island, is the site
of the native village. The other, Pulau Tikus or Direction Island, is
occupied by a relay station on the submarine cable across the Indian
Ocean. The Cocos-Keeling Islands, unlike the remainder of the
Colony, were never occupied by the Japanese, and in the latter part
of the war a large air-strip was laid down on West Island, and an
important base established there. The air-strip was abandoned after
the war, and much of the material removed, but it is now being re-
habilitated for use on a proposed route across the Indian Ocean
from Australia to South Africa. All the islands in the group are
thickly covered with coconut palms, and the only export is copra.

CLIMATE

The climate of Singapore is characterized by uniform temperature,
high humidity and copious rainfall. The variation of temperature
throughout the year is very small and the excessively high tempera-
tures of continental tropical areas are never experienced. Although
the days are hot and, on account of the high humidity somewhat
oppressive, the nights are almost always reasonably cool, and it
rarely happens that refreshing sleep is not obtained. The average
maximum temperature for the whole year is 87° F and the average
minimum temperature 74? F. The average for any one month does
not depart from the annual mean by more than 2? F.

There are no well marked dry and wet seasons. Rain falls through-
out the year. Records for a number of years show that the average
annual rainfall is 95 inches. December is the wettest month with a
little over 10 inches while February, May, June, July and September
are dry months, with between 64 and 7 inches. Rain falls on the
average on one day in two.

The wettest year on record is 1913 with 135.92 inches and the
driest year 1888 with 63.21 inches. Prevailing winds are southerly
from May to October and northerly from November to April.

The total rainfall for 1951 was 90 inches, about 5 inches below the
normal fall for the year. January was the wettest month with 24
inches, more than twice the normal fall for this month and the
highest since January, 1918, when 25 inches were recorded. October
was the driest month with 2 inches, about 6 inches below the normal
fall for this month. Temperatures were normal. The highest tem-
perature, 93? F, was recorded on 3rd April and the lowest, 67? F,
on 23rd February.

History of Singapore

N 1819, at the beginning of the year, six ships of the Honourable
East India Company lay off an island in the Straits of Malacca.
From these on 28th January there put off a small boat carrying two
white men and a sepoy guard. One of them, though not yet 38, had
already made his mark in the world. He had saved Malacca from
destruction, he had suggested the conquest of Java and ruled that
island as Lieutenant-Governor for five years, he had been censured
by the Company and knighted by the Prince Regent; he was now `
Lieutenant-Governor of the moribund settlement of Bencoolen in
Sumatra and commissioned, at his own suggestion, by the Governor-
General of India to establish a trading station in Riau or Johore. His
name was Thomas Stamford Raffles.

The boat nosed its way up a mangrove-lined creek till it reached a
clearing where stood some fifty attap huts and a somewhat larger
house, the residence of the Temenggong, the Malay governor of the
island. The Temenggong met the white men as they landed, with gifts
of fruit: through the hot mid-day hours they talked in the cool dim-
ness of the chief’s verandah: and when Raffles put back to his fleet
the foundation of the Colony of Singapore had been laid.

The Temenggong would treat but was nominally a subordinate,
and Raffles sent for Tengku Husein, Sultan de jure of Johore-Lingga
though supplanted with Dutch connivance by his younger brother.
Husein too would treat and on 6th February the Sultan and Temeng-
gong agreed to the building of a British factory on Singapore Island
and equally to exclude from their territories all other powers. Raffles’
‘political child’ was born.

Henceforward Raffles was to refer to ‘my city of Singapore’. He
was richly entitled to do so. It had been his researches which had in-
formed him of the forgotten past of the Island, of the prosperous
commercial centre which had flourished there under the name of
Singapura, the ‘Lion City’, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 155

and had been destroyed by the Javanese in or before 1377. It was his
imaginative power which had revealed to him the immense strategic
and commercial value of its position commanding the southern en-
trance to the Straits and on the most direct route to the Far East.

It was his strong commonsense which told him that men commonly
dislike restrictions, especially in trade, and led him to enunciate
that economic principle of the *free port' upon which the foundations
of Singapore's prosperity were laid. It was his self-confidence and
audacity which prompted him to an action which he knew must pro-
voke general and bitter opposition. Nor was he mistaken. The Dutch
protested forcibly against the interloper. Colonel Bannerman, the
Governor of Penang, timorous and jealous, foresaw the blackest
disaster. The East India Company directors in Leadenhall Street
were apprehensive, and stated their objections to the Governor-
General, Lord Hastings. He had no liking for the situation, but since
the thing was done it had better remain so, and he had no use what-
ever for the threats or claims of the Dutch.

So no decision was taken and meanwhile, though Raffles himself
was struggling with derelict Bencoolen, his offspring began to speak
for itself, and with authority. No more than 150 when Raffles landed,
the population rose to 5,000 in June 1819 and to 10-20,000 in August.
Trade, hitherto non-existent, by 1820 far excelled that of Malacca.
In 1822 the value of imports and exports was $8,568,151, in 1823 it
had jumped to $13,268,397. Patently this infant prodigy was an asset
which could not be surrendered.

Nor was it. By the Treaty of London, 17th March, 1824, Holland
withdrew its objections to the occupation of Singapore and ceded
Malacca, while Britain gave up Bencoolen and all the Company's
possessions in Sumatra. At the same time British sovereignty in Singa-
pore was placed on a sound juridical basis by a treaty with the Sultan
and Temenggong on 2nd August, 1824 which ceded to the East India
Company the Island of Singapore in full sovereignty and property.

Meanwhile, in 1822-3, Raffles had paid his last visit to Singapore
and, working with his usual titanic energy, had endowed it with a
magistracy, a code of laws and a police force, trading regulations
and a town-planning scheme, and, as he hoped, an institution which
would make Singapore the intellectual as well as the commercial
entrepot of South-East Asia. In 1824 he returned to England where
he died in 1826, not yet 45.

In the succeeding years the phenomenal progress of his creation
showed no sign of diminution. The trade figures were £2,610,440 in

156 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

1825, £13,252,175 in 1864. The population which at the first census
in 1824 numbered 10,683, had risen by 1860 to 81,734 of all nation-
alities, but with a significant majority (over 50,000) of Chinese. Singa-
pore had completely overshadowed its sister settlements of Malacca
and Penang, with which it had been incorporated in 1826 as the
Straits Settlements, and it was natural that the seat of government
should be transferred from Penang to Singapore in 1832. But surgit
semper aliquid amari. Singapore was doing well but, thought its in-
habitants, could do better: and the drag on its further progress was
the fact that it was an outlying possession of a distant government
in India, which did not consult local interests.
. The Straits Settlements had been put under the Presidency of Ben-
gal in 1830 and transferred to the direct control of the Governor-
General in 1851. It was all one to Singapore: it disliked in increasing
measure government from India and in the fifties its discontent be-
came vociferous. It complained in general that the supreme govern-
ment sacrificed the interests of the Straits Settlements to those of
India: in particular that it interfered with the currency to the detri-
ment of trade, that it sought continuously to infringe the sacred
principle of the ‘free port’ by revenue-producing devices, and above
all that by its policy of strict non-intervention with the Malay States
of the hinterland, it held back the Singapore merchants from deve-
loping a large territory of great potential wealth but now so sunk
in irremediable anarchy as to render regular trade impossibly ha-
zardous.

The Government of India, for its part, was quite willing to let its
wayward dependencies depart in peace. Prosperous the Straits might
be, but so low was the taxation that they were actually a burden on
the Indian Government. Moreover since the abolition of the Com-
pany's monopoly of the China trade in 1834 India was no longer
interested in the Straits; it was difficult to find suitable officials for
the territory and protection in war was impossible. By all means,
therefore, transfer the Straits Settlements to the Colonial Office. So
reasoned the Viceroy, Lord Canning, in 1859, and in 1860 the trans-
fer was agreed in principle. To settle the details was another matter.
In addition to the parties to the transfer, the War Office and the
Treasury were involved, and it was not until 10th August, 1866, that
an act was passed to transfer the control of the Straits Settlements
from the Indian Government to the Colonial Office. On 1st April,
1867, the transfer was formally effected and the Straits Settlements
became a Crown Colony.

The proximate result was the dropping of the policy of non-inter-
vention and the inauguration of a policy of protection and guidance

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 157

in the native states of the peninsula which in a few decades converted
an unhealthy, sparsely-populated and anarchic country into the
most prosperous and best developed of all Britain's tropical depen-
dencies. In this development Singapore played a primary part and
in the resultant prosperity she had her share. It was in Singapore
that European processes of tin-smelting were introduced in 1887
with the result that in 1939 Singapore smelted more tin than England
and Holland combined. It was in Singapore and in Perak that Hevea
Brasiliensis was successfully cultivated in 1877; it was the Director
of Singapore's Botanic Gardens, Mr. Ridley, who in 1891, first
exhibited cultivated rubber to the public, and though Singapore
grew comparatively little rubber itself, it became the chief
rubber export centre of the world and in 1918 out of a total trade of
$512,229,753 the value of rubber exported was $153,455,920. Popu-
lation followed prosperity in a continuous upward curve: a century
after Raffles’ landing the population within the municipal limits was
estimated at 305,000; in 1931 it was 559,945 of whom 74.9 per cent
were Chinese.

With justice could the Singapore Chamber of Commerce refer in
1919 to *the wondrous growth of the trade of the Port'. In that res-
pect Raffles’ expectations had been fulfilled completely. But in two
major respects his aspirations remained ungratified.

His strategic eye had not failed to perceive the key position of
Singapore or the vital line of trade and communications which runs
. through the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean to China and the An-
tipodes. Singapore, he wrote, will become the Malta of the East.
But prior to the 1914-18 war little resemblance was apparent. In
1873 indeed Singapore was described as ‘defenceless’ and though
the adjacent islands of Blakang Mati and Pulau Brani were subse-
quently fortified, the garrison of Singapore in 1914 consisted of no
more than the equivalent of two battalions, while from the naval
point of view it was no more than a port of call and coaling station.

The emergence of Japan as the third naval power in the world
fundamentally altered the strategic situation. Japan had hitherto
been an ally, but was known to have wavered in 1918 and to enter-
tain aspirations which must bring her into conflict with British in-
terests. The protection of the Indian Ocean and of the Antipodes
necessitated the presence of a battle-fleet in eastern waters: a battle-
fleet required a naval base with adequate docking facilities and there
existed none such from Malta to Pearl Harbour. So in 1921 the
Imperial Conference decided that Singapore should become, as
Raffles had foreseen, the Malta of the East. By 1938 a first class
naval base had been constructed with graving and floating docks to

158 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

accommodate the largest capital ships. An air base was established,
the garrison multiplied and the peaceful commercial city was trañs-
formed into a fortress. But Singapore differs from Malta in one
essential particular, in that it has an extensive hinterland from which
it is separated only by a narrow strait. Lacking naval and air support
the fortress succumbed to a Japanese land attack in February 1942.

For three and a half years Singapore, under the alias of Syonan,
remained perforce in the much vaunted Japanese co-prosperity
sphere, and learnt that the prosperity, if any, accrued entirely to the
Japanese and that co-operation meant in effect complete exploi-
tation. On 5th September, 1945, the forces of South-East Asia Com-
mand under Lord Louis (now Viscount) Mountbatten fresh from
their great victories over the Japanese in Burma bloodlessly re-
covered Singapore, shabby and despoiled, with its people diminished
and starving, but largely intact, no longer to be one of the Straits
Settlements but to constitute the separate Colony of Singapore.

*Education, wrote Raffles in 1823, in a minute which should be
more famous than Macaulay's, *must keep pace with commerce in
order that its benefits may be ensured and its evil avoided'. He ad-
vocated therefore the establishment of a college to educate the higher
classes of the native population and to facilitate research into the
*history, condition and resources' of South-East Asia. When he left
in 1823 the foundation stone of his institution was laid and a liberal
endowment provided. But the conception was too lofty for his suc-
cessors, the endowment was dissipated, and only in 1837 was the
institution put to use as a school. For a century education languished
and in 1919 the editor of the Straits Times could write of the ‘deplor-
able' condition that existed in this respect.

One very important step had been taken in 1905 when a medical
school was established which developed into the King Edward VII
College of Medicine. But it was not till 1918 that a committee ap-
pointed to make recommendations for the celebration of the cen-
tenary of Singapore unanimously reported 'that the most suitable
memorial is a scheme which will provide for the advancement of the
education of the Colony with a view to laying securely the founda-
tions upon which a university may in course of time be established'.
From this report proceeded Raffles College which was opened in
1928 as a centre for higher education of a university standard. The
union of Raffles College and the King Edward VII College of Medi-
cine into the University of Malaya has come to pass and that last
and most resplendent of Raffles’ visions of Malaya as the cultural
centre of South-East Asia has been fulfilled.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 159

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS ISLAND
AND THE COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS

Christmas Island

Christmas Island was discovered and named by Captain William
Mynors of the Royal Mary who sighted it on Christmas Day, 1643,
while on a voyage from Java to the Cape. The earliest recorded land-
ing is that of a party sent ashore by William Dampier in 1688, but
. the island remained little known, and was seldom visited, until the
latter part of the nineteenth century. The first official attempts at
exploration were made by men landed from H.M. ships in 1857
(H.M. Frigate Amethyst), January 1887 (H.M. Surveying-vessel
Flying Fish) and October 1887 (H.M. Frigate Egeria).

The reports arising from these visits were unpromising, but some
of the geological specimens brought back by the Egeria were found
to be almost pure samples of phosphate of lime, and the British
Government decided to annex the island as the result of representa-
tions made by Dr. (later Sir) John Murray, to whom the specimens
had been submitted for examination. In June 1888 Captain H. W.
May of H.M.S. Imperieuse landed at Flying Fish Cove, on the north
side of the island, and formally declared it to be part of the British
Dominions, under the immediate jurisdiction of the Government of
the Straits Settlements. In November the same year Andrew Clunies
Ross, a younger brother of the owner of the Cocos-Keeling Islands,
established a small colony of Malays on the shore of the cove.

Dr. Murray had applied to the British Government for a lease of
the island in April 1888, when he was urging its annexation, but no
decision was reached in the matter. Later George Clunies Ross
addressed a formal petition to the Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments, based on the fact that members of his family had established
themselves there. The question was not settled until February 1891,
when the British Government granted the two claimants a joint
lease for ninety-nine years. Six years later, following discussions in
London, both parties agreed to make their leases over to a Company,
to be formed and registered in London, under the name of ‘The
Christmas Island Phosphate Company”, with the object of working
the rich deposits. The shares were restricted to 1,500 of which each
took 750.

Extensive work on the opening up of quarries on the north side,
near to Flying Fish Cove, began early in 1897. The following year
200 Chinese labourers, the fore-runners of a large labour force, were

160 СОГОМУ OF SINGAPORE

brought to the island, and in August 1900 Andrew Clunies Ross left,
taking with him the last of the Cocos-Keeling Malays. Early the
same year the first consignment of phosphates was put on board
ship by means of lighters, and the island's exports began. About the
same time L. H. Clayton, the first District Officer, assumed duty, his
presence being rendered desirable by the rapidly expanding labour
force.

Prior to 1888 Christmas Island was probably the only existing
tropical island of any large extent that had never been inhabited by
man. Its interest from a scientific point of view was further increased
by the fact that it is at least 190 miles from any other land, and is
surrounded by an ocean in which the depths exceed three miles. In
consideration of these points Sir John Murray offered in 1896 to pay
for a zoological and botanical survey of the island, before it should
be too much disturbed by exploitation. The British Museum of
Natural History agreed to second Dr. C. W. Andrews for this work,
and the latter spent over ten months on the island from July 1897 to
May 1898. During this period he accumulated a valuable series of
natural history and geological specimens which now form part of
the national collections at South Kensington. On his return he pre-
pared an elaborate monograph embodying the results of his investi-
gations, which has been described as the best published account of
an oceanic island. Іп 1938-40 an attempt was made on behalf of the
Raffles Museum to repeat the zoological section of Dr. Andrews'
work, with the object of extending its scope and recording the pos-
sible changes in the fauna in the intervening fifty years. Unfortunately
a large portion of the specimens and data obtained disappeared from
the Museum during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore and
before any record had been made of them. Such material as remained
was published by the Museum in a special Bulletin in 1947.

By the beginning of the 1914-18 war the greater part of the phos-
phate that could be extracted easily had been taken from the quarries
on the north side of the island, and it was becoming increasingly
difficult to work them satisfactorily. Subsequently the world short-
age of shipping reduced the volume of the Company's exports, and
the opportunity was taken to drive a railway 11 miles across the
central plateau to the southern point, and to uncover the extensive
beds existing there. These alone have been utilised since 1920, and a
rich harvest was gathered from them during the inter-war period.

Christmas Island was occupied by the Japanese in February 1942.
A scorched-earth policy was carried out prior to their arrival and

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 161

this, combined with their own shipping difficulties, rendered the
island unproductive during their stay there. The preparation of phos-
phate for export was rapidly resumed after the war. In October 1948,
following prolonged negotiations, the Australia and New Zealand
Phosphate Commission acquired the rights of the Company.

The Cocos-Keeling Islands

The isolated northern island of the Cocos-Keeling group is tradi-
tionally believed to have been discovered by William Keeling, a
merchant captain of the East India Company, while homeward
bound from Bantam in 1609. The islands remained unowned and
uninhabited until the end of 1826 when Alexander Hare, an English
adventurer, and later John Clunies Ross, a Scottish seaman, estab-
lished small settlements at different points on the main atoll. Hare,
who had been British Commissioner for Borneo during Raffles’
administration of the Dutch territories, claimed to hold extensive
concessions in the neighbourhood of Banjarmassin, granted him by
the Sultan. Ross, the eldest son of a Shetland family, went to sea
with the Greenland whaling fleet at the age of thirteen, and sub-
sequently, after serving in the Pacific, worked under Hare in Borneo
and afterwards as captain of a trading vessel owned by Hare and his
brothers. He seems to have decided to settle on the Cocos-Keeling
Islands about 1824, and at the end of 1825, when homeward bound
from Bencoolen, he made a preliminary landing and planted a
number of seeds and shoots which he had brought with him from
Sumatra. He returned to the atoll, with his wife and family, and a
small number of colonists from England, early in 1827, and there
found Hare in occupation.

The leaders of the two groups did not see eye to eye and each
sought his own champions to support his claim to ownership of the
islands. Finally, about 1831, Hare returned to Java, leaving Ross
and his heirs in sole possession. The official recognition for which
Ross had asked was not granted until 1857, when Captain Free-
mantle of H.M.S. Juno formally declared the group to be part of
the British Dominions. In 1878 responsibility for their supervision
was transferred from the Colonial Office to the Government of
Ceylon, and in 1882 to the Government of the Straits Settlements.
Finally in 1903 they were officially incorporated in the Settlement of
Singapore*.

_ *Ordinance No. 84 of 25th September, 1903, ‘to provide for the better adminis-
tration of the Cocos Islands.”

162 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

From the earliest days the economy of the settlement has been
based entirely on the coconut palm. Fish are plentiful in the lagoon,
but all rice and similar foodstuffs has to be imported and, like cloth-
ing and other semi-essentials, paid for from the sale of copra and
other coconut products. Conditions seem to have been very difficult
at first, and it was not until the last quarter of the century, under the
leadership of the third Ross (George Clunies Ross, who succeeded
his father in 1871), that the community really prospered. In the
eighteen-nineties the island had a population of about 500-600
persons, and in good years was exporting as much as £25,000 worth
of copra a year, at a time when the pound sterling was worth money
in the east. In 1901 a relay station in the submarine cable across the
Indian Ocean was established on Pulau Tikus, at the north end of
the main atoll. The presence of the station has had little effect on the
prosperity of the islands, but it has much increased their importance,
especially in wartime.

Favourable conditions continued until 1909, when the islands
were struck by the worst cyclone in their recorded history: about
400,000 coconut palms were uprooted or decapitated, and the ac-
companying tidal wave left only five buildings standing. Five years
later they lost their trading schooner, the Ayesha: she was stolen by
the landing party from the German cruiser Emden to make their
escape after their own ship had been sunk by H.M.A.S. Sydney off
North Keeling. As a result of these two disasters the islands were not
able to share adequately in the wartime copra boom. Subsequently,
in the inter-war period, the population increased steadily, while the
exports increased in quantity but dropped in value. During the latter
part of this period the islands were to a large extent supported by the
income which the fourth Ross (John Sydney, who succeeded his
father in 1910) obtained from his shares in the Christmas Island
Phosphate Company.

A small garrison was established at the north end of the main atoll
in 1941, to protect the Cable Station, but it was withdrawn after the
fall of Singapore. Nevertheless the Japanese never put a party ashore,
though they bombed the islands and damaged the buildings of the
station. The unsupported bombing did them little good, and cable
communication was continued with the aid of reserve equipment
rigged up under the ruins of the houses.

J. S. Clunies Ross died in August 1944. His heir was a bó; of six-
teen in England, and a military administrator was therefore appointed
to take charge of the islands. He remained in control until April 1946,

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 163

when the civil administration was re-established. By the end of the
war the population had passed the 1,800 mark, and with little likeli-
hood of copra ever reaching a price that could support so many
people the fifth owner (John Cecil Clunies Ross) reversed the policy
of his predecessors, and a scheme was devised under which all is-
landers who wished to do so were assisted to emigrate. Small numbers
elected to go to Christmas Island and Singapore, but the majority
have chosen to resettle in North Borneo, where employment has
been found for them on hemp and tobacco estates near Tawau and
Lahad Datu. Emigration has now been completed and only some
350 persons have decided to remain on the islands.

XVI

Fauna and Flora

THE FAUNA OF SINGAPORE ISLAND

NITIALLY the fauna of Singapore Island must have been very similar
to that of the wooded lowlands of southern Malaya, but the deve-
lopments of the last hundred years have impoverished it considerably.
Much, though by no means all, of the mangrove remains, but the
sandy stretches of the coast are no longer free and undisturbed. In
the interior the original forest has been destroyed almost completely
and replaced by lightly wooded country or densely populated urban
areas.

The only section that has remained largely unchanged is an area
of nearly twelve miles in the centre, lying across the east flank of
Bukit Timah and including three artificial lakes which serve as
reservoirs for the town water supply. The whole of this region has for
long been reserved as a catchment area, where neither settlement nor
tree-felling is permitted. In 1951 it was included in the areas desig-
nated as nature reserves in the Schedule to the Nature Reserves
Ordinance, 1951, under which legislation a Board of Management
has been established with full power to control and administer the
reserves. Here, accordingly, there is still a considerable variety of
wild life, but the area is too small to maintain many of the larger
Malayan animals under natural conditions.

In general the birds and mammals now living wild on the island
are restricted to the hardier and less retiring of the denizens of scrub
woodland, small grassy areas and the forest edge. Less than a hun-
dred years ago, at the time of A. R. Wallace's visits between 1854
and 1862, ‘there were always a few tigers roaming about Singapore
and they killed, on an average, a man every day’. The last authentic
record of a local tiger was a beast shot on the island in 1924. The
Sambar, Rusa equina, probably disappeared at about the same time,
and the little Barking Deer, Muntiacus muntjak, during the recent

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 165

war: the Banded Leaf-Monkey, Presbytis femoralis, the Berok,
Macaca nemestrina, and the Wild Pig, all of which were certainly
present until after the turn of the century, have probably died out
in the last 20—30 years. There are always a few pigs in a feral condi-
tion in the broken country at the west end of the island, and probably
some in the catchment area, but these are almost certainly animals
that have escaped from domestication or, in the case of the former
locality, crossed the Johore Strait temporarily. There are still true
wild pig and the Berok on some of the small islands south of Singa-
pore, and it is known that the pig swim from island to island.

Less than fifty mammals are still known to be present on the
Island in a feral condition, and even these consist largely of rats |
(six species), squirrels (seven species) and bats (about twenty-four
species)*. The latter include the so-called Flying Fox, Pteropus
vampyrus, a large fruit-eating bat with a wing-span of nearly five
feet, whose flesh is sometimes eaten by the Chinese. In addition there
is a tree shrew, Tupaia glis, and a house or musk shrew, Suncus
murinus, both of which are very common in their respective habitats,
and a monkey, the Longtailed Macaque or Kera, Macaca irus,
which is present wild in the Botanic Gardens in some numbers. This
small selection covers all the mammals known to the great majority
of the people on the island. The remaining species, though in some
cases of considerable interest, are generally secretive and by no means.
common. They include two civets, a wild cat, at least one otter, two
kinds of Mouse Deer, the Common Porcupine, the Scaly Anteater
or Pangolin, the Flying Lemur and possibly the Slow Loris.

The bird fauna of the Island is similarly restricted. About 156
different kinds of birds are almost certainly resident here, while a.
further 125 species have been recorded as strays or winter visitors:
these figures are about half the totals for Malaya as a whole. In
addition only about 70-80 of the residents can be regarded as at all
plentiful, while about 50 are rare, or confined to very limited habitats
in the forest reserve or the mangrove zone. The common birds are
mostly types found in grassland, open orchards and light woodlands
on the mainland. In some cases, such as the Yellowvented Bulbul,
Pycnonotus goiavier, the Magpie Robin, Copsychus saularis, the
Whitebreasted Kingfisher, Halcyon smyrnensis, the Golden Oriole,
Oriolus chinensis, the Longtailed Tailor-Bird, Orthotomus sutorius,
and the Yellowbreasted Sunbird, Leptocoma jugularis, they are
plentiful on the Island. The Oriole and the Yellowbreasted Sunbird

* A full list of the birds known from the Island up to the end of 1949 occurs in
Bulletin of the Raffles Museum No. 21 (published January 1950). A list of the
mammals will be published in Bulletin No. 24 (1952).

166 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

in particular are probably commoner here than they are anywhere
else in Malaya. On the other hand such families as the pheasants,
hornbills, trogons and whistling thrushes are completely unre-
presented. Human interference, or at least the proximity of settle-
ments, have probably had at least as much to do with their dis-
appearance as the extensive deforestation. Several woodland birds
are known from the little island of Pulau Ubin, in the Johore Strait,
and even from the smaller islands in the Rhio Archipelago, though
they are no longer present on Singapore Island itself.

The principal effect of man’s activities has certainly been to
impoverish the fauna. It is, however, interesting to note that several
birds, including two species which are now common, have taken
up residence here in the last fifty years, at least partly as a result of
his presence and the changes that he has wrought. One of these is
the Oriole mentioned above. The other is the Common Myna,
Acridotheres tristis, which has apparently made its way down the
peninsula from Tenasserim during the present century. In addition
we have the little Java Sparrow, Padda oryzivora, the Javan Myna,
A. f. javanicus, the Ceylon House Crow, Corvus splendens, and two
bulbuls which arrived as caged birds and, escaping, have formed
breeding colonies in parts of the island. Several other spectes have
established themselves temporarily in this way and then died out
again.

About 40 of the 125 non-resident birds occur regularly and in
some numbers, either as visitors throughout the northern winter or
as passage migrants: some, mostly shore birds, are very plentiful
during the period of their stay here. The remainder only reach the
area in very small numbers, occasionally, or as vagrants represented
so far by only one or two records. In many respects the numbers of
migrants and winter visitors are disappointingly small, both in
terms of species and of individuals. It seems that the great move-
ments of birds along the shores of the Malay Peninsula travel past
to the east and west of Singapore, and miss the Island itself.

Reptiles are well represented. Of the non-marine forms four tor-
toises, between fifteen and twenty kinds of lizards and over forty of
snakes are probably still found here. The commonest tortoise is the
Spiny Hill Tortoise, Geomyda spinosa, which is often encountered
in the catchment area jungle. The most noticeable of the lizards are
the little House Geckos or Chichaks, which astonish new-comers to
the tropics by their ability to walk upside down on the ceiling. So
far from retreating before the advent of civilisation these lizards
flourish and multiply in houses, whose electric lights attract insects
.and furnish them with a copious artificial supply of food. In gardens

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 167

and along roadsides the Flying Lizard (Draco volans) is quite often
seen gliding on outstretched membranes from one tree to another
and the Crested Tree-lizard (Calotes cristatellus), often miscalled
*Chameleon', is not uncommon. Malaya's largest lizard, the Common
Monitor (Varanus Salvator) is still found in the less densely popu-
lated districts, and occasionally raids chicken-runs in the rural areas.

Of the surprisingly large total of snakes six are venomous and
only two of these dangerously so. These are the two Cobras, Naja
naja the Black Cobra and Naja hannah the Hamadryad or King
Cobra. The latter is the largest poisonous snake in the world and in
July 1950 a specimen of 15 feet 7 inches was captured in the catch-
ment area near the Island Golf Club. The Black Cobra is by no
means rare, but extremely few cases of its bite are reported and it
can be said with confidence that in Singapore (and indeed through-
out Malaya) the hazard of snake-bite need not be taken very serious-
ly. Of the harmless snakes the House Snake (Lycodon aulicus) is the
most frequently encountered and the beautiful black, green-spotted
Paradise Tree-Snake (Chrysopelia paradisi) is also very common.
Pythons (Python reticulatus) are quite often captured but are usually
not of any great size.

Frogs and toads are present in some variety. The Common Asiatic
Toad (Bufo melanostictus) is abundant and furnishes students of
biology at the University with an introduction to the technique of
dissection. The author of the bellowing chorus that arises from
swampy places in rainy weather is the so-called Bullfrog (Caloula
pulchra). This species is said not to be native to Singapore but to
have been introduced shortly before the beginning of the present
century.

A considerable fauna of freshwater fish inhabits the island’s ponds
and streams, and especially the catchment area reservoirs. Many of
them, by reason of their beauty and diminutive size, are favourites
of aquarium keepers. Others are of interest from their peculiar
habits; among these the celebrated Climbing Perch (Anabas testu-
dineus) is worthy of mention. This fish possesses an accessory air-
breathing organ which enables it to live for quite long periods out
of the water provided it can keep its body and gill-chambers moist.
In rainy weather Climbing Perches will deliberately leave the water
and make their way across country in search of new dwelling places;
in this way newly made ponds soon become colonised by them. One
small fish, Rasborichthys altior, is quite common in the waters of
the catchment area but has never been taken in any locality out-
side Singapore Island.

168 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Of the terrestrial invertebrate animals little can be said beyond
the fact that they are extremely numerous and varied. This is parti-
cularly true of the insects, and the catchment area jungle affords a
rich hunting ground for the casual butterfly collector and the serious
entomologist alike. A few of the invertebrates are noxious. The sting
of the large scorpion (Heterometrus) and the poisonous bite of the
big centipedes (Scolopendra) are painful and severe but not to be
regarded as dangerous. The Giant Snail (Achatina fulica) is a native
of Africa but must now be accepted as a conspicuous, albeit un-
welcome, member of the Malayan fauna. Introduced probably via
Mauritius and Ceylon, it first made its appearance in Malaya about
1911. It is now a widely spread pest of gardeners and vegetable
growers throught ut South-East Asia and has even reached some of
the islands of the tropical Pacific.

In conclusion mention must be made of the rich fauna found
around the Island's coasts. Fish, molluscs, crustaceans and many
other animals occur in great variety, particularly as a number of
distinct littoral environments are represented. These include gently
shelving sandy and muddy shores and extensive mangrove swamps.
Many of the islets south of Singapore have rocky shores and coral
reefs border some of the more outlying of them.

THE FLORA OF SINGAPORE

When Sir Stamford Raffles first landed in Singapore nearly the
whole island must have been covered by primitive lowland forest,
with mangrove forest along the muddy coasts and along the banks
of tidal creeks. Today most of that forest has disappeared, except
for small patches such as those on Bukit Timah and in the water
catchment area, but despite the great changes that have taken place,
the abundant rainfall and absence of marked seasonal changes in
Singapore ensure that there is no lack of the greenness and luxuriance
which are such striking features of the vegetation of this region.

The original forest was much the same as that which covers large
areas of the lowlands of the Malay Peninsula, a rich and complex
association of trees, shrubs and climbers. A sample of it is to be seen
in the Bukit Timah Forest Reserve, where many noble trees still
stand and where the exceedingly complex nature of the flora can be
appreciated. So complex is it that even in this small area, which lias
been a locus classicus of Malayan botany for nearly a century, and
which has been considerably reduced in size in the past fifty years,
new discoveries can still be made, not only of small and insignificant

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 169

plants, but of large trees, one or two of which have been found in
recent years to be new to science and several others to be new to
Singapore Island.

The forest is evergreen, although it consists almost БЕТТЕН of
broad-leaved, trees. There is no time during the year when the trees
stand bare of leaves. Most trees continually drop a few leaves and
keep renewing them. Some shed their leaves all at once, but they
stand bare for a very short time and quickly reclothe themselves,
and the odd individual here and there behaving in this manner does
not alter the general evergreen aspect. There is also no fixed or
general flowering season. Each kind of plant is a law unto itself and
responds to climatic changes in its own particular way. The Pigeon
Orchid, which is so familiar an object in Singapore with the sudden
appearance of its fragile, white flowers all opening together, is a
good example, although it is not a forest plant. It develops its flower
buds to a certain stage and then rests, waiting for the sudden fall in
temperature which accompanies a tropical rain storm. This starts
the buds growing, and nine days later all the plants in the area
affected by the storm bloom simultaneously. The gradual drop in
temperature which occurs every night has no effect. Only a sudden
change will pull the trigger.

First impressions of the tropical rain forest characteristic of the
lowlands of Malaya are of the extraordinary numbers of different
plants and of the paucity of flower. The forest floor is covered by a
mass of seedlings, shrubs and herbs, with here and there a small
palm and it is only ocasionally that one sees any colour but green
in a great variety of shades. A forest giant may have its head covered
in flower, but very often the only clue is the carpet of fallen corollas
.on the ground beneath it. But although one may miss the colour
that enlivens the spring woods in a temperate climate, there is much
else of interest. There are the tall, straight, unbranched boles of the
larger trees, some perched on stilt roots, some strongly buttressed,
some cylindrical to ground level; the clusters of flowers and fruits
springing from the very base of the trunks of others; the strangling
figs, which begin life by germinating high up in the fork of a tree,
sending out roots which encircle the host in a basket work which
gradually squeezes it to death, so that the fig establishes itself even-
tually in the ground, and the host which it replaces dies and crumbles
away; the climbing palms or rattans with their formidable array of
thorns and fish-hooks. Then there are the epiphytes, those plants
which perch themselves on branches of trees wherever the roughness
of the bark or a fork allows them to find a foothold and a place
where debris can collect. Such epiphytes do not take nourishment

170 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

from the host, as parasites do. They may damage their hosts, but
only by weight of numbers, whereas true parasites, which are also
common on forest trees, actually penetrate with their roots the
tissues of their host and rob it of food. Although orchids and ferns
are perhaps the commonest epiphytes, many other kinds of plant
adopt the habit. One very interesting one in the Bukit Timah Forest
was a Rhododendron which grew high up in the fork of an old and
massive Seraya. This ancient tree fell down a few years ago, destroy-
ing the Rhododendron, which was probably the only plant of its
kind on Singapore Island.

The mangrove forests, although little of them now remains, are
much more interesting than a casual inspection would indicate. In
contrast to dry land forest, mangrove consists of comparatively few
kinds of trees, all of which are adapted to grow in salt water, and
which, in fact, are unable to exist elsewhere than in tidal sea water,
and then only in sheltered places where there is little wave action.
Unlike inland forest, some of the mangrove species are gregarious,
and this, along with the few species involved, accounts for the
uniform appearance of any large area of mangrove. At low tide a
tangle of stilt roots and breathing roots is exposed, sometimes so
numerous that it is impossible to force one's way through them.
The curious fruits are noticeable, for the root grows out of the fruit
while it is still attached to the tree and may reach two or three feet
long. When the fruit eventually does fall, the long root bores into
the mud and anchors the seedling. Associated with the mangrove
and growing with it in tidal swamps are two palms, the tall, graceful
Nibong with its strongly spiny stem and the Nipah, a stemless palm
with very large stiff leaves.

Besides lowland and mangrove forests, other types of original
vegetation are represented here and there. In the Seletar and Mandai
districts there are patches of freshwater swamp forest very like that
which covers vast areas in south-east Johore. The plants charac-
teristic of the sandy east coast beaches reach Changi and the islands
in that neighbourhood. The cliffs at Labrador, at the western ap-
proaches to Keppel Harbour, are covered by a scrub in which grows
a most interesting fern called Dipteris conjugata, one of those ancient
plants which overseas botanists are always anxious to see alive and
in its native habitat. This has been found at two other places, by the
sea, in Singapore Island, but nowhere else in the country, perhaps
nowhere else in the Malaysian region, is it found at sea-level.

An estimate of the numbers of the native flora of Singapore gives
a figure of about 2,300 species, including grasses, sedges and ferns,
but excluding mosses, lichens, fungi and other lower forms of plant

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 171

life. About 180 of this number are orchids, but with the destruction:
of most of the mangrove forests, many orchids which were epiphytic-
on mangrove trees have disappeared. Some of the forest plants, too,
are no longer to be found, and must be considered extinct.

Forest, of course, is no longer the dominant feature of the vegeta-
tion of Singapore Island. Outside the urban areas, rubber and coco-
nut plantations, orchards and vegetable farms are to be found
wherever the soil is suitable for them. There are, however, areas of
secondary growth where long ago the forest was cut down and where `
cultivation has now been abandoned. The gambier and pepper
planters, about the middle of last century, exhausted the soil of
many acres in Singapore and moved away to lay waste other areas.
After them came that universal pest, lalang grass, which establishes.
itself very rapidly and very thoroughly in any open abandoned space.
It cannot tolerate shade, so that, if it is not set on fire, it is gradually
replaced by a dense growth of soft-wooded shrubs and small trees.
But fire encourages it by killing all other plants, leaving the under-
ground runners of the lalang untouched. Extensive lalang areas are
not now so common as they used to be. Evidence that they did cover
much larger areas is to be seen in the roadside avenues of trees of
Jambu laut (Eugenia grandis) which still exist. This tree was largely
planted in the eighties of last century to check grass fires, for it does
not burn readily.

Although these expanses of scrubby secondary growth look
barren and uninteresting, they contain a surprising number of
species, some of them well worth study. One of the most curious is
Nepenthes, the Pitcher Plant or Monkey Cup, of which at least three
species are common in Singapore. They are scrambling plants,
furnished with oddly shaped and coloured hollow pitchers which
dangle from the leaf-tips or are seated on the ground. The pitchers
are elaborately designed to trap and drown insects, which are gradu-
ally absorbed and form part of the food requirements of the plant.

If secondary growth is left untouched, the seeds of forest trees,
distributed by animals or birds or by the wind, may find the shady,
moist conditions that they must have to germinate and survive, so
that primitive forest may eventually re-establish itself. This is an
exceedingly slow process. On Singapore Island, with the ever in-
creasing pressure of its expanding population, there is very little
likelihood of any such change being observed. We shall do well if
we are able to keep intact the remaining relics of the native vegeta-
tion for the benefit of our students and lovers of nature.

The clearing away of the original forest and the establishment of
farms, plantations and gardens has allowed the entry of many alien

172 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

plants. Many of these have been introduced accidentally, many as
food or ornamental plants, and, finding congenial conditions,
proceed to run wild, often with surprising vigour. Some are now so
well established that it is hard to believe that they are not native.
The very common Mimosa, or Sensitive Plant, is an American which
has been in Singapore for well over 100 years; and the common
Lantana is also an alien and also American. It is interesting to find
that so many of our weeds and food plants are American in origin.
The centre of distribution of these plants for South-East Asia seems
to have been the Philippines. It is thought that the plants were
brought from the New World by the Acapulco galleons trading
between the Pacific coast of Mexico and the Philippines, when these
islands were under Spanish rule.

Even today, although the entry of foreign plants is carefully
watched, mainly because noxious plant diseases must be kept out,
aliens do manage to evade regulations and quarantine. These in-
truders are usually quite inoffensive, such as the two grasses dis-
covered in 1950, both of them previously unknown in Singapore.

XVII

Administration

HE COLONY of Singapore is constituted by the Singapore Colony

Orders in Council, 1946 to 1950. These and the Royal Instruc-
tions of 27th March, 1946, together as amended from time to time,
provide for:—

(a) a Governor and Commander-in-Chief appointed by Com-

mission under His Majesty's Sign Manual and Signet;

(b) an Executive Council consisting of the Governor as Chair-

man; four ex-officio Members (namely the Colonial Secre-
tary, the Attorney-General, the Financial Secretary and
the President of the Municipal Commissioners (now the
City Council); two Nominated Official Members; four
Nominated Unofficial Members; and two Elected Members
elected by the Nominated Unofficial and Elected Members
of the Legislative Council from among themselves;

a Legislative Council consisting of the Governor as Pre-
sident; four ex-officio Members (as for the Executive
Council); five Nominated Official Members; not more than
four Nominated Unofficial Members; and not more than
twelve Elected Members, of whom three are, under the
provisions of the Singapore Legislative Council Elections
Ordinance, 1947, elected by the Singapore Chamber of
Commerce, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the
Indian Chamber of Commerce respectively, and the re-
mainder by popular franchise from single-member Electoral
Districts.

It is provided that in the Governor's absence a Deputy
President (who at present is the Elected Member for the
Chinese Chamber of Commerce) shall, if present, МИНА
at meetings of the Council;

174 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

(d) a Supreme Court, with unlimited civil and criminal juris-
diction, which is a Court of Record, and for Courts subordi-
nate to the Supreme Court and Courts of special jurisdic-
tion to be constituted by laws made under the provisions
of the Orders in Council.

The public affairs of the Colony are administered, under the
direction of the Governor in matters requiring submission to him,
by the Colonial Secretary and his staff; District Officers are stationed
in Christmas Island and the Cocos-Keeling Islands.

The First Legislative Council under the new Constitution of 1946
which, as regards Elected Members, provided for not more than
nine, was inaugurated on the 1st April, 1948. It was dissolved on the
17th February, 1951; elections for twelve Elected Members were
held in March 1951. The three Members elected by the Chambers
of Commerce in the First Legislative Council were returned by their
respective Chambers; of the nine Members elected for the single-
member Electoral Districts, six were members of the Progressive
Party, two were members of the Labour Party and one was an
Independent. The Second Legislative Council was formally opened
^ оп the 17th April, 1951, when it held the first meeting in its First
Session.

The total electoral poll for this election was 48,155 and 25,056
voters went to the polls.

Local administration of the municipal area is exercised by the
City Council, which is composed of twenty-seven members under '
an official President nominated by the Governor after consultation
with the Councillors. Of the twenty-seven members, nine are nomi-
nated by the Governor at his discretion and eighteen are elected
from six wards in annual elections. Councillors serve for a period
of three years, one third retiring in December each year.

Fifteen candidates contested the six seats in the 1951 election.
Three Labour, two Progressive and one Independent were returned,
making the composition of the elected element seven Progressives,
six Labour and five Independents. The total poll for the election was
15,917 or slightly over 59 per cent of the electorate.

The electoral registers for both Councils were opened for adjust-
ment from 15th April to 15th June. Previously the registers had been
open for six weeks from 1st June each year. The change was recom-
mended by the Electoral Procedure Committee of 1950, to allow a
longer period for adjustments and a longer interval before the
annual City Council elections. A further recommendation of the

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 175

Committee that, as a measure of convenience and economy, the
registers for the two Councils should be combined since the bound-
aries for each electoral district and ward coincide, was also adopted.

This was the fifth annual revision of the Registers and while
names had been added, the Election Office had not been informed
of departures from the Colony or changes of addresses. The poli-
tical parties, in the light of experience in the Legislative Council
elections, pointed out that the registers were not efficient from their
point of view in that a considerable number of electors were not to
be found at the addresses given in the registers. A house-to-house
check of registered electors was therefore carried out during the
revision period. As a result 18,853 names were deleted from the
Legislative Council register and 7,220 from the City Council register,
after publication of intention to do so.

During the same period 18,489 and 12,059 persons applied for
first registration for the Legislative and City Council elections
respectively. These were the highest figures since the institution of
elections in 1947 and the total electorates now stand at 48,155 for
the Legislative Council and 26,831 for the City Council.

To qualify for the Legislative Council register a man or woman
must be a British citizen over 21 years of age: must not have taken
any steps to acknowledge 'allegiance, obedience or adherence to
any foreign power or State’ or held office during the past 3 years
under the government of a foreign power, or hold a foreign passport:
and must have resided in the Colony for the past 3 years.

Qualifications for the City Council franchise are similar, but
with certain additional residential or property qualifications.

The Rural Board's jurisdiction extends over the whole of the
Colony including the surrounding islands, outside the municipal
area. The Board administers directly such matters as water supply,
markets, parks, and a building inspectorate, while health and rural
engineering are administered by the appropriate Government
Departments. The Board is presided over by an official Chairman,
the Commissioner of Lands, and consists of four officials and six
nominated unofficials. Contact between the Board and the public
is assisted by seven Rural District Committees. These Committees
have no statutory powers but are a first step towards the establish-
ment of Rural District Councils and provide a valuable opening .
and experience for those willing to give voluntary service in the
interests of the public.

The rapid growth of Singapore has resulted in the establishment
of a number of separate statutory bodies doing similar work and
overlapping at a number of points, to the detriment of efficient

176 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

administration. At the instance of the City Council it was agreed
that the whole question of local Government in the Colony should
be examined. This task was accepted by Dr. L. C. Hill, c.B.E.,
Lecturer in Public Administration at University College, Exeter.
Dr. Hill spent the months of July to December in Singapore and
prepared his report and recommendations for publication in 1952.

Very considerable progress was made in the implementation of
the policy of appointing locally domiciled officers to the higher
grades of the Public Service. Recommendations on appointments
and promotions to the higher posts on the Estimates of the Colony
are tendered by the Public Services Commission constituted by the
Public Services Commission Ordinance, 1949 (No. 55 of 1949),
which came into force on 1st January, 1951.

The Chairman and Members of the Commission-designate,
which had been at work since May 1950, were then appointed to
the Commission as follows:—

Chairman: Frederic Gordon-Smith, Esq., K.c.
Members: Reynold Lionel Eber, Esq.
Wee Swee Teow, Esq., O.B.E.

On 1st October, 1951, Mr. R. L. Eber resigned from the Commis-
sion and was succeeded in November by Mr. L. Cresson, J.P.

During the year the Commission held 66 meetings and inter-
viewed 584 candidates for appointment to posts in Divisions I, II
and III of the Public Service. It also considered over 200 references,
which included 125 reports of Selection Boards which had inter-
viewed a total of 1,249 candidates for posts in Division III. The
Commission also interviewed 26 candidates for appointment to
Part I of the Higher Services and 22 for appointment to Part II.

The following appointments were made:—

Administrative Service, Part II
Administrative Service, Part I
Chemical Service, Part II ..
Customs Service, Part П ..
Customs Service, Part I
Engineering Service, Part II
Immigration Service, Part II
Immigration Service, Part I
Income Tax Service, Part II
Income Tax Service, Part I
Labour Service, Part II
Labour Service, Part I ..
Meteorological Service, Part II
Social Welfare Service, Part II
Social Welfare Service, Part I
Statistics Service, Part II ..
Statistics Service, Part I

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 177

In addition seventeen locally domiciled officers were appointed
to posts in Division I of the Public Service, including seven medical
Officers, and seven locally domiciled nurses were promoted to the
rank of Nursing Sister.

The total number of Division I posts in 1951 was 636 of which
409 were held by substantive officers, the remainder being either
vacant or filled by officers on short term contract. Of these 409 posts.
118 were held by locally domiciled officers.

Amongst other matters upon which the Public Services Commis-
sion tendered its advice to the Governor during 1951 were many
references from the Joint Malayan Establishment Board, amend-
ments and additions to existing Schemes of Service, proposals for a
Unified Medical Health Service and a Unified Education Service,
the award of Departmental and other Scholarships and temporary
appointments on contracts of 1, 2 or 3 years' duration.

At the commencement of the year fifty-seven officers were on
scholarships or courses. Twenty-three returned and a further forty-
nine were sent during the year. Fellowships and scholarships award-
ed in 1951 are summarised below.

No. of

Persons
Departmental Scholarships (Overseas) .. 10
Departmental Scholarships (University of Malaya) 13
Accounting Scholarships (Correspondence Courses) $
Departmental Training Courses .. 17

с Development апа Welfare Fund Scholar-
ships

Queen's Fellowships and Scholarships ..
Australian Government Scholarships ..
United Nations Fellowship and Scholarship

U.N.E.S.C.O. TONS offered m New Zealand
Government .

-— NJ to XA

In the years since the war the wider scope and кенін complexity
of governmental functions had made the established administrative
procedure increasingly inadequate, and an urgent need was felt for
a re-organisation of the machinery of Government in accordance
with modern conditions. During these years a number of attempts
were made to obtain an individual specialist officer qualified to
undertake the task but as these attempts met with no success, it
was finally decided to seek the assistance of private consultants in
organisation and management.

An approach was made accordingly to the firm of Messrs. Urwick,
Orr & Partners, and Mr. R. A. Withers, a representative of that
firm, paid a visit to the Colony in February and March 1951, in

178 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

order to make a preliminary survey of the position. His work and
his subsequent findings and recommendations, known popularly
as the “Withers Report’, attracted great public interest. After full
consideration of this report it was agreed that the task of re-organi-
sation required a degree of technical skill and specialist training
not available in Malaya either within or without the Government
:service and it was decided to employ the services of the firm itself
for a period of 24 years to carry out a thorough re-organisation.

Arrangements were completed towards the end of the year when
three Resident Consultants assigned by the firm arrived in Singa-
pore. They work in conjunction with the Organisation Secretary
.as a specialist branch of the Colonial Secretary's Office and report
direct to the Colonial Secretary himself. The period has as yet been
'too short to allow any assessment of results to be made but a method
ОҒ procedure has been agreed and broad decisions taken as to the
matters which should be dealt with urgently. As the year ended
the Consultants were engaged in working on the following three
:subjects:—

(i) the methods and procedures of the Secretariat, with particular reference
to its relationships with the executive departments;

(ii) the structure and functions of the Economic Affairs Branch of the.
Secretariat including the possibility of forming a Department of Trade
and Industry;

(iii) accounting methods and procedures both within the Accountant-
General's Office and in all external departments.

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICE

All publicity work required by the Government and its Depart-
ments is the responsibility of the Public Relations Office, a branch of
the Colonial Secretariat. Its central position emphasises the fact that-
Public Relations is not a mere departmental activity but a function
of Government in many aspects. The staff of the Public Relations
"Office give advice on and assist in specialised publicity measures
-such as exhibitions, publicity campaigns and the issue of posters.

Two Film and Public Address vans operate continuously in the
Municipal and Rural areas: the Islands are also visited by launch.

A Weekly Vernacular Press Digest is published.

Lectures are given to societies and schools on matters of general
‘public interest such as Civics and international affairs.

Publications include a monthly information calendar, and a
periodic wall-sheet called Singapore Affairs; during the year, 50,000
copies of 35 different posters and 200,000 copies of 15 booklets were
issued. Major campaigns covered Electoral Registration, Road
‘Safety, and Recruitment to the Police and Nursing services. The

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ANNUAL REPORT 1951 179

booklets dealt with the welfare policy of Government, the facts of
Communism and the commercial activities of Singapore. A monthly
Economic Information Bulletin is published from information
supplied by the Economic Affairs Branch. Posters, magazines and
booklets prepared by the Colonial Office are distributed.

The principal exhibitions organised by the Exhibition Section
covered Town Planning and Housing, Safety First and the United
Nations. These drew audiences of up to 30,000. Regular displays
were arranged at photo stations throughout the year.

Singapore is the chief centre for the publication of newspapers
in Malaya: there are four English language papers, 3 Chinese, 2
Malay and 2 Tamil. The three major Press Agencies have permanent
offices here and many overseas correspondents work in and from
Singapore. The Public Relations Office issued 2,832 statements to
the Press and acted as the distribution centre for the Federation
Information Department (with which it is connected by teleprinter),
the Commissioner-General's Office and the Services. Assistance was
given in arranging visits by journalists from overseas and supplying
them with information.

XVIII

Weights and Measures

STANDARD measures recognised by the laws of the Colony are
as follows:—
standard of length, the imperial yard;
standard of weight, the imperial pound;
standard of capacity, the imperial gallon.

Among the Asiatic commercial and trading classes Chinese steel-
yards (called daching) of various sizes are generally employed for
weighing purposes.

The following are the principal local measures used with their
English equivalents:—

the chupak .. ad .. equals 1 quart;
the gantang .. P НИНА d gallon;
the тай e" oe ks. ap l+ oz.;
the kati (16 tahils) s We. ge. 14 Ib.;
the pikul (100 katis) ps .. 55 1331 Ib;

the koyan (40 pikuls) .. e,» 5,3334 Ib.

XIX

Newspapers and Periodicals in 1951

HE FOLLOWING agencies operated in Singapore: Reuters, United
Press of America, Associated Press of America, Antara News
Agency, Australia Associated Press, Agence France Presse, Central
News Agency. |
The following daily papers were published in Singapore:—
English language:
Morning—Straits Times, Singapore Standard, Indian Daily
Mail.
Afternoon—Singapore Free Press.
Chinese language:
Morning—Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh, Chung
Shing Jit Pao.
Afternoon—Nanfang Evening Post.
Malay language:
Morning—Utusan Melayu, Melayu Raya.
Tamil language:
Afternoon—Tamil Murasu.
Evening— Malaya Nanban.

Malayalam language:
Morning—Kerala Bandhu, Videsha Malayali.

The following Sunday papers were published :—
English language:
Sunday Times, Sunday Standard.
Chinese language:
Chung Shing Jit Pao, Nanyang Siang Pau, Sin Chew Jit Poh.
Malay language:
Utusan Zaman.

182 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

The following periodicals were published:—

English language:
Weekly— Straits Budget, Radio Weekly.
Fortnightly—Brown's Economic Review.

Chinese language:
Bi-weekly—The Amusement, Yeh Teng, Sin Jit Pao.
Weekly—Saturday Review, Sin Chew Weekly, Nanyang Radio

Weekly.
Fortnightly— Rediffusion Times, Young Malayans.
Monthly—Screen Voice.

Malay language:
Monthly— Moestika, Qulam, Mutiara, Hiboran.

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Selected Bibliography*

ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC SERVICES

AWBERY, S. S. and DALLEY, F. W. Labour and Trade Union Organi-
sation in the Federation of Malaya and Singapore. Kuala Lumpur,
Government Printing Office, 1948. The report of an enquiry
made early in 1948 into the situation of labour and the trade
unions in Malaya.

BENHAM, FREDERIC. The National Income of Malaya 1947-49 (With
a Note on 1950). Singapore, Government Printing Office, 1951.
The first complete assessment of Malayan economy. The
national income estimates make use of information given in
departmental reports, trade statistics and similar official sources.

BLYTHE, W. L. Report on Chinese Labour in Malaya, Kuala Lumpur,
1938. (printed but not published.)

BLYTHE, W. L. Historical Sketch of Chinese Labour in Malaya,
Journal, Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 20, pt. I,
June, 1947.

BLYTHE, W. L. The Interplay of Chinese Secret and Political Societies
in Malaya, published in Eastern World, March and April,
1950.

CENTRAL OFFICE OF INFORMATION, LONDON. An Economic Review of
Malaya 1945-49. London, Central Office of Information, 1950.
An account of post-war reconstruction and economic progress
in Malaya, and of current economic problems.

DEL Turo, M. V. A Report on the 1947 Census of Population. London,
Crown Agents for the Colonies, 1949.

EMERSON, RUPERT. Malaysia: A Study in Direct and Indirect Rule.
New York, Macmillan, 1937. A comparative study of adminis-
tration in British and Dutch territories in South-East Asia by
an American author.

* A number of the earlier works listed are out of print, but all can be consulted
at Raffles Library.

184 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

Lim Tay Bou. The Co-operative Movement in Malaya. Cambridge
University Press, 1950. Discusses the requirements of a success-
ful co-operative movement in Malaya and states the case for
State assistance for the movement.

MIDDLEBROOK, S. M. and PINNICK, A. W. How Malaya is Governed.
London, Longmans Green, 1940. A short description of local
administration in Malaya intended for use in secondary schools.

MiLLs, LENNOX. British Rule in Eastern Asia. Oxford University
Press, 1942. A study of contemporary Government and Econo-
mic Development in British Malaya and Hong Kong.

MILLs, LENNOX and ASSOCIATES. The New World of South-East Asia,
Oxford University Press, 1949.

ONRAET, RENE. Singapore—A Police Background. London, Dorothy
Crisp, n. d. An account of the work and problems of the Police
Force in Singapore by a former Inspector-General of Police,
including chapters on secret societies, the Japanese espionage
in pre-war years and the early activities of the Chinese com-
munists..

SINGAPORE HOUSING COMMITTEE. Report of the Singapore Housing
Committee. Singapore, Government Printing Office, 1947.
An illustrated commentary on housing accommodation in
Singapore in 1947, with recommendations for the formation
of satellite towns and other means to improve housing condi-
tions.

SINGAPORE PRISON ENQUIRY COMMISSION. Report of the Singapore
Prison Enquiry Commission. Singapore, Government Printing
Office, 1948. A very full and detailed report with recommenda-
tions on the system of Prison Administration and related
matters in Singapore.

SMITH, T. E. Population Growth in Malaya. Chatham House, 1951.
A description of the main trends of population growth in Singa-
pore and the Federation of Malaya over the past few decades.

SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT, SINGAPORE. A Social Survey of
Singapore, 1947 compiled by the Secretary for Social Welfare,
Singapore. Singapore, Department of Social Welfare, 1947.
A preliminary study of some aspects of social conditions in the
Municipal Area of Singapore.

TAYLOR, W. C. Local Government in Malaya. Alor Star, Kedah
Government Press, 1949. An account of the work of Muni-
cipalities, Town Boards and Rural Boards in Malaya. A read-
able monograph on an intricate subject.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 185

WILSON, Sir SAMUEL. Reporton a Visit to Malaya. London, H.M.S.O.,
1933. A report on proposals leading to decentralisation of
public services in the Federated Malay States.

AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND ECONOMIC PRODUCTS

AGRICULTURE, DEPARTMENT OF, KUALA LUMPUR. The Malayan
Agricultural Journal. A quarterly journal issued by the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur, first published in 1891 as
the Agricultural Bulletin. Includes papers dealing with all aspects
of Malayan agriculture, food and other crops (including
rubber) and animal husbandry.

BunkiLL, I. H. A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay
Peninsula. 2 vols. London, Crown Agents for the Colonies, 1935.
A comprehensive account of the subject by an author who is
himself a botanist. Accounts of vegetable products occupy the
greater part of the book but mineral and animal resources are
adequately treated.

FIRTH, RAYMOND. Malay Fishermen—Their Peasant Economy.
London, Kegan Paul, 1946. A detailed account of fishing
economics and methods based on a study of the coastal Malays.
of Kelantan and Trengganu. A survey of fisheries in Malaya
and Indonesia is given in the first chapter.

Grist, D. H. (Comp.). Ап Outline of Malayan Agriculture. Kuala
Lumpur, Department of Agriculture, 1936. A comprehensive
description of Malayan agriculture with parts devoted to condi-
tions, practice, major, secondary and minor crops and animal
husbandry, including fresh-water fish cultivation, compiled
by an agricultural economist.

KENNAWAY, M. J. Cavalcade of Rubber. Singapore, Kelly & Walsh,
1936. A brief historical sketch of the rubber industry in Malaya
from its experimental introduction in 1876 to the early days of
post-depression recovery.

KESTEVEN, G. L. (Ed.). Malayan Fisheries. H. M. Government,
1949. A handbook prepared for the inaugural meeting of the
Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council held in Singapore in March
1949. Edited by G. L. Kesteven, p.sc. An up-to-date summary
of the subject including sections on the marine faunas, fishing
methods and economics and types of boats used, illustrated by
a fine series of photographs by C. A. Gibson-Hill.

186 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

MAXWELL, C. N. Malayan Fishes. Singapore; Methodist Pur
House, 1921. A useful account of fish and fisheries in M
written from the point of view of a Malay scholar rath»
of an ichthyologist.

WICKIZER, V. D. and BENNETT, M. K. Rice Economy of M
Asia. California, Stanford University Press, n. d. À co
hensive monograph of the subject covering tropical cont:
Asia from India to Manchuria, Malaya, Indonesia, the :
pines and Japan.

ANTHROPOLOGY

COoOPER-COLE, F. Peoples of Malaysia. New York, Van No
1945. A popular anthropological book intended primar
the American forces in the Pacific. The term Malaysia |
in a less restricted sense than usual.

FIRTH, RAYMOND. Report on Social Science Research in ^
Singapore, Government Printing Office, 1948. This
embodies the results of the author's examination of
conditions in Malaya and the prospects and need ot
science research there. It recommends inter alia a study
economically depressed coastal Malays of Singapore Isla
the island life of the Malays at Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ut
Pulau Sudu.

WHEELER, L. RicHMOND. The Modern Malay. London, A
Unwin, 1928. An account of the history of the Pen
Malays, their conditions of life at the time of writing
discussion of their future.

WINSTEDT, Sir RICHARD. The Malays—A Cultural History.
pore, Kelly & Walsh, 1947. A detailed account of the «
history, beliefs, traditions and customs of the Per
Malays written by the most eminent living authority
subject.

BOTANY, GEOLOGY AND WILD LIFE

ALEXANDER, Dr. (Mrs.) F. E. S. Report on the Availability of ·
in Singapore and the Surrounding Islands. Singapore, C
ment Printing Office, 1950.

BOTANIC GARDENS, SINGAPORE. The Gardens’ Bulletin. Publis
the Botanic Gardens, Singapore at irregular intervals. Сс
technical papers on Malayan Botany.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 187

Malayan Garden Plants. A series of booklets issued by the
Botanic Gardens, Singapore, -each containing line drawings
and descriptions of ten plants of horticultural interest. Nos.
1-3 have now been published.

Сокмев, E. J. H. Wayside Trees of Malaya. Singapore, Government
Printing Office, 1940. Provides for the identification of nearly a
thousand species of Malayan trees and presents a wealth of
readable matter concerning them. In two volumes, a text well
illustrated with line drawings and a volume of photographic
plates.

GIBSON-HILL, С. A. An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Malaya.
Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, Singapore, No. 20 (1949). An
annotated list of all birds known to have occurred in Malaya,
with remarks on status and distribution. No provision is made
for identification of the species.

GLENISTER, A. G. The Birds of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore and
Penang. Oxford University Press, 1951. With 78 birds in colour
and monochrome and 74 text illustrations and photographs.

MALAYAN NATURE SOCIETY. Malayan Nature Journal. Published
quarterly by the Malayan Nature Society. Contains illustrated
articles on the wild life and flora of Malaya.

MALAYAN ORCHID SOCIETY. Malayan Orchid Review. Published
yearly by the Malayan Orchid Society. Contains illustrated
articles on all aspects of orchid culture in Malaya.

RipLEY, H. N. The Flora of the Malay Peninsula. 5 vols. London,
L. Reeve, 1922-25. Contain brief botanical descriptions of all
species of higher plants (about 6,000) known to occur in the
Malay Peninsula (south of latitude 7°) up to 1925; now con-
siderably out of date and in need of revision.

SCRIVENOR, J. B. The Geology of Malaya. London, Macmillan, 1931.
A well illustrated account of Malayan geology, both economic

and academic. The author was the senior Government geologist
from 1903-31.

WILD LIFE COMMISSION OF MALAYA. Report of the Wild Life Com-
mission of Malaya. 3 vols. Singapore, Government Printing
Office, 1932. A general survey, mainly devoted to evidence
derived from a questionnaire occupies the first volume. Volume
II deals with recommendations for wild life preservation and
Volume III with legislation.

188 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

BIOGRAPHY

BOULGER, DEMETRIUS C. The Life of Sir Stamford Raffles. London,
Horace Marshall, 1897. This biography contains the most com-
plete account of Raffles’ political career, based on records in
the India Office.

Cook, J. A. BETHUNE. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of
Singapore, 1819. London, Arthur Stockwell, 1918. A short,
anecdotal biography, written by an English missionary.

COUPLAND, R. Raffles of Singapore. London, Collins, 1946. A short
biography of the founder of Singapore.

HAHN, EMILY. Raffles of Singapore. Е. Aldon Press, 1948.

RAFFLES, SOPHIA. Memoir of the life and public services of Sir Thomas
Stamford Raffles. 2 vols. London, John Murray, 1830. Useful
because of its extracts from Raffles’ papers.

EDUCATION

CHELLIAH, D. D. A Short History of the Educational Policy of the
Straits Settlements, 1800—1925 (Circa). Kuala Lumpur, Govern-
ment Printing Office, 1948. Starting with the ideas Sir Stamford
Raffles had in mind when he founded the Singapore Institution
this history traces educational policy in Singapore, Malacca
and Penang up to 1925 and in some sections beyond this date,
but not later than 1939.

COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION IN MALAYA. Report of the
Commission on Higher Education in Malaya. Members of the
Commission, Sir William McLean and H. J. Channon. London,
H.M.S.O., 1939. The report of a Commission which visited
Malaya in 1938. The amalgamation of Raffles College and the
King Edward VII College of Medicine to form a University
College is the most important recommendation made.

COMMISSION ON UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN MALAYA. Report on
University Education in Malaya by Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders
(Chairman of the Commission). Kuala Lumpur, Government
Printing Office, 1948. The report of an Education Commission
which visited Malaya in 1947 and recommended the replace-
ment of the present institutions for higher education by a
Malayan university.

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 189

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, SINGAPORE. Educational Policy in Singa-.
pore: Ten Years’ Programme. Singapore, Government Printing
Office, 1947. Contains the data immediately necessary for the
detailed planning of educational progress in Singapore.

HISTORY

BUCKLEY, C. B. An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore.
Singapore, Fraser & Neave, 1902. The period dealt with is 1819
to 1867; the title of the book is explanatory of its treatment of
the subject.

Cowan, C. D. (Ed.). Early Penang and the Rise of Singapore 1805-
1832. Journal, Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 23,
pt. 2, 1950. A selection of documents from the manuscript
records of the East India Company, chosen to illustrate the
early commercial progress of the two settlements, with an
introductory chapter by the editor.

LuscoMBE, F. M. Singapore 1819-1930. Singapore, С. A. Ribeiro,
1930. A brief history of the Colony with a useful chronology
in appendix.

MAKEPEACE, W., BROOKE, G. E. and BRADDELL, R. Sr. J. (General
Editors). One Hundred Years of Singapore. 2 vols. London,
John Murray, 1921. An account of the social and economic
progress of Singapore from its foundation in 1819 to 1919.
Contributors include well-known old residents of the city.

Мил5, L. A. British Malaya 1824-1867. Singapore, Methodist
Publishing House, 1925. An account of the early history of
British colonisation in Malaya; events previous to the Anglo-
Dutch Treaty of 1824 are summarised in the first three chapters.

ONG SIANG SONG, Sir. One Hundred Years History of the Chinese
in Singapore. London, John Murray, 1923. A chronological
record of the contribution of the Chinese community to the
development, progress and prosperity of Singapore from 1819
to 1919.

PURCELL, VICTOR. The Chinese in Malaya. Oxford University Press,
1948. A concise but authoritative account of the Chinese in
Malaya from the earliest contacts down to the post-war period.

The Chinese in South-East Asia. Oxford University Press,
1950. The first full and authoritative account of the Chinese in
South-East Asia to be published.

190 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

SWETTENHAM, Sir F. A. British Malaya. London, Allen & Unwin,
1948. An account of the origin and progress of British influence
in Malaya. The author was Governor and High Commissioner
from 1901 to 1903.

WINSLEY, T. M. A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps 1854-
1937. Singapore, Government Printing Office, 1938. Contains
also an historical outline of volunteering in Malaya.

WINSTEDT, Sir RICHARD. A History of Malaya. Journal, Malayan
Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 13, pt. 1, 1935. The most
complete account that has been written of the history of the
country from pre-historic times to the early 1930's.

WRIGHT, A. and CARTWRIGHT, H. A. (Ed.). Twentieth Century
Impressions of British Malaya: its history, people, commerce,
industries and resources. London, Lloyd’s G. B. Publishing Co.,
1908. This volume deals exhaustively with the history, adminis-
tration, peoples, commerce, industries and potentialities of the
Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States. Contribu-
tors include several heads of Government departments in
Malaya.

LANGUAGE

HAMILTON, A. W. Easy Malay Vocabulary. Singapore, Kelly &
Walsh, 1936. A very useful vocabulary of colloquial Malay
based on the learning of 500 elementary and 500 more advanced
words, with phrases associated with them.

Lewis, M. B. Teach Yourself Malay. London, Hodder & ЖОШО,
1947. An excellent book for anyone wishing to learn Malay.
Very clear and well set out with exercises and a vocabulary.

MAXWELL, C. N. The Malay Language and how to learn it. Kuala
Lumpur, Kyle, Palmer & Co., 1932. An unconventional ap-
proach to the study of Malay with its emphasis on analysis of
words and phrases.

RELIGION

SEMPLE, REV. E. G. Singapore Religions. Singapore, Methodist
Publishing House, 1927. A brief history and description of the
religions practised by members of the Singapore population.

WAR

PERCIVAL, A. E. The War in Malaya. London, Eyre & Spottiswoode,
1949. An account of the fighting in Malaya, based on official

ANNUAL REPORT 1951 191

records which have not hitherto been available, by the G.O.C.
Malaya (1941-42), who was taken prisoner at the fall of Singa-
pore.

MISCELLANEOUS

ALLEN, D. F. Report:on the Major Ports of Malaya. Kuala Lumpur,
Government Printing Office, 1951. A descriptive and historical
account of the Ports of Singapore, Penang, Port Swettenham
and Malacca. All aspects of administration are dealt with and
suggestions made regarding future development.

BRADDELL, ROLAND ST. J. The Lights of Singapore. London, Methuen,
1934. A readable and reminiscential book about Singapore and
Malaya by a member of a family which has lived in the Colony
for three generations.

Dossy, E. H. G. Southeast Asia. University of London Press, 1950.
Primarily a text-book of the geography of Burma, Siam, Malaya
and Indo-China and of the islands to the south and east of these
territories as far east as the Philippines. Divided into three
sections which deal with the natural setting, the political units
and the social geography of the region.

GERMAN, R. L. (Comp.). Handbook to British Malaya. London,
Malay States Information Agency, 1935. A concise account of
the physical features, history, administration and economics
of the country, illustrated with photographs.

PURCELL, Victor. Malaya: Outline of a Colony. London, Thomas
Nelson & Sons, 1946. A short description of Malaya for general
reading ending with an account of the impact of war on the
country.

RAFFLES MUSEUM, SINGAPORE. The Bulletin of the Raffles Museum.
A journal published by Raffles Museum at irregular intervals in
two series, devoted respectively to zoology and anthropological
science.

Rovar ASIATIC Society. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
Malayan Branch. A journal issued from the Society's rooms at
Raffles Museum three or four times a year. The objects of the
Society are the increase and diffusion of knowledge concerning
Singapore, Malaya, and the British colonies and the State of
Brunei in Borneo, membership being by subscription of $10
per year. Initiated in 1878 as the Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic
Society the present name of the Society was adopted in 1923.

т.

192 COLONY OF SINGAPORE

SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SECRE-
TARY, SINGAPORE. Malaya a Guide for Businessmen and
Visitors. Singapore, Office of the Secretary for Economic
Affairs, 1951.

WiLLIS, A. C. (Comp.). Guide to Singapore and Malaya. Singapore,
Advertising and Publicity Bureau, 1940. A tourists’ guide book
of pre-war Singapore, illustrated with photographs.

. WINSTEDT, Sir RICHARD. Malaya: The Straits Settlements, the
Federated and Unfederated Malay States. London, Constable,
1923. A description of Malaya with chapters on physical fea-
tures, native races, history, fauna, flora, administration and
economic products. Well illustrated with photographs.

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

ANDREWS, C. W. A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean).
London, British Museum (Natural History), 1900. Based on
collections made on the island in 1897-98.

GiBSON-HiLL, C. A. The Early History of Christmas. Island, in the
Indian Ocean. Journal, Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society,
vol. 22, pt. 1, 1949, pp. 67-93. Includes a full bibliography of
earlier publications on the island.

VARIOUS AUTHORS. Papers relating to the Fauna of Christmas Island,
in the Indian Ocean. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, Singapore,
No. 18, 1947. Based on collections made on the island in
1938-40, with reference to earlier work.

COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS

GiBSON-HiLL, C. A. Notes on the Cocos-Keeling Islands. Journal,

| Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 20, pt. 2, 1947,
рр. 140—202. Gives an account of the history of the islands and
a description of the form and organization of the settlement on
the main atoll in 1941.

The Island of North Keeling. Journal, Malayan Branch, Royal
Asiatic Society, vol. 21, pt. 1, 1948, pp. 68-103.

Woop-JoNEs, F. Coral and Atolls. London, 1910 (2nd ed., 1912).
Partly based on a stay on the islands іп 1905-06.

VARIOUS AUTHORS. Papers on the Fauna of the Cocos-Keeling Islands.
Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, Singapore, No. 22, 1950. Based
on collections made in the group in 1941.

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